Silver Tide
by Neko Yuu-chan
Summary: Not all is as it seem when a young trigger-happy pirate captain named Lavi meets a young and homeless orphan named Allen. Allen houses a big secret and the boy's appearance causes turmoil and turns Lavi's world upside down. Laven (LavixAllen) (Officially pushed up to M)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Here I have a new fanfiction for you guys; I have not really seen any pirate themed Laven fanfictions on here so I thought I would post this little baby up here. It was inspired by a comment that was made in my other fanfic Shattered Snow. Hope ya like it.

Parings: LavixAllen (yes it is another yaoi fanfic)

Disclaimer: Do not own DGM or any of the characters.

Onwards to the story~

Enjoy!

o~x~x~x~x~o

The sky was covered in a graying blanket of clouds, a sure sign of an approaching storm. That very oncoming storm caused a great black-sailed ship to anchor in the docks of a small seaside village. Many of the villagers that were still out and about looked warily at the ship that had come to their docks. It wasn't very uncommon for pirate ships to dock in for supplies and such. Today was such an occasion coupled along with the oncoming typhoon that caused the ship to anchor there. Life went on in the small village as three of members of the ship's crew disembarked from the ship. The one in the lead was a young man in his late teens, with fiery red hair that was partially hidden by a bandana and a tri cornered hat. His one visible emerald iris searched the surrounding area with care; the other was covered by an eye patch and therefore not visible to others.

"Lavi, should we stock up on supplies?" the only girl in the trio asked.

She was a slim and pretty thing, with long black hair that was tied up in pigtails, she looked to be of Chinese descent.

"Since we're already here we might as well," the redhead replied.

Lavi looked at his two crewmates that had come with him on land, and inspected each of them before seemingly deciding on something.

"Yuu, you go fetch the foodstuffs, Lenalee yer in charge of the clothing," the redheaded pirate commanded.

"And what will you be doing?" the female pirate questioned.

"Looking for anything else we might need, rum and other drinks may or may not be included in that." Lavi replied.

"You should be careful on land Lavi. Many people want you dead." Lenalee warned.

"Yer concern is touching. I'll be fine," the pirate replied.

"Yer a sorry excuse for a captain, idiotic waterlogged rabbit," the other male in the group grumbled.

The redheaded pirate stared silently at his crewmate, while the dark-haired male glared venomously at his captain. Lavi suddenly removed a gun from the holster at his thigh and cocked it, placing it against the other's temple.

"Careful what ya say mate, I can make ya walk the plank with a hole in yer head," the redhead warned.

"I'd like to see you try, ya damn seadog," the black-haired pirate said.

"Lavi! Kanda! Enough!" the Chinese girl exclaimed.

"Get going," the redhead brushed the incident off, putting his gun back in its holster.

"Aye, aye captain."Lenalee and Kanda replied, the latter more unenthusiastically than the former.

Kanda rubbed his temples in a gesture of irritation as he watched the young captain walk off. Lenalee just placed a comforting hand on his shoulder before walking away from him to do her errands. The remaining teen gave a heavy sigh before he went off to run is own errands, long jet black hair trailing behind him in the breeze as he stormed off.

Lavi found himself walking through the small village after successfully getting his hands on several crates full of rum and other drinks and had them delivered to the ship. He'd been on the lookout for other things his crew might use. As he travelled through the shopping plaza, the redheaded captain noticed a ruckus up ahead. Curiously Lavi made his way through the light rain that had started to fall towards the source of the ruckus. A group of people were standing around someone or something by an alley, shouting curses and other horrid things.

"Whats going on here?" the redhead asked.

The group turned to him, none seemed to pleased. Whether it was because of him or because of what they were shouting at he did not know.

"This rat swindled us out of our food," one of the men said, steeping away from whatever they had been crowding around.

Lavi, who had been confused by the man's words, spotted a young teen sitting on the ground and hugging a sack. The boy looked ragged and filthy, with smudges of filth all over his milky white skin and clothes. A rag covered his head like a hat, and the redhead spotted pale white hair peeking out from under it. The boy's hair was just as dull and filthy as the rest of him, and his clothes were all tattered.

"Leave the poor lad alone will ya. He's just trying to survive how he can." Lavi said, a slight feeling of pity for the boy welling up in his gut.

"This ain't yer ship pirate. You can't order us around," one of the men, an old and seasoned fellow, spoke up.

Narrowing his eyes, he took his gun from its holster and pointed it at the men standing before him.

"What makes ya think I won't put ya all in my brig?" the pirate threatened.

Reluctantly the men departed murmuring things about no good pirates and swindling street rats under their breaths. The young pirate captain crouched in front of the filthy boy, removing his tri cornered hat and placing it on his lap.

"What's yer name?" the redhead asked, in a friendlier tone.

The boy looked up at Lavi with scared silver irises, still hugging the sack to his chest like a life line and looked ready to bolt.

"Ya don't need to be scared of me lad, I won't bite much," the redheaded pirate said in a friendly manner.

"A-Allen, my name," the pale-haired teen replied.

"Nice ta meet ya, Allen. My name is Lavi," the redhead said with a small smile.

"I-I didn't do anything wrong." Allen said.

"I'm sure ya didn't Allen. Why were those men mad at ya?" the pirate asked.

"I have to survive somehow," he boy replied, showing Lavi the contents of the sack.

The redheaded pirate only saw food in that sack and he frowned lightly, wondering why such a young boy was living in the streets off stolen food. Although he couldn't say that he himself was any better than that boy, he was a dirty pirate and everyone that wanted him dead knew it.

"Where are yer parents, if ya don't mind me asking," the redhead said.

The boy lowered his head as he riffled through the contents of the sack he was holding.

"I don't have any?" Allen replied sadly, looking back up at the redhead.

Something inside the pirate moved at the sight of those saddened silver irises, and upon looking closer he spotted red markings on the other's face. The markings seemed like a scar by the boy's dirty white hair was covering much of it, so he couldn't really make out what it was.

"So sorry to hear that. Tell ya what, since me and my crew are gonna be staying here till the storm passes, why don't I treat ya to all the grub ya want," the captain offered.

"Good luck finding a nice place that'll accept pirates or street rats around here. This village has been tormented by pirates for years," the boy said.

Lavi's single emerald iris widened a fraction of a second at how smart the boy seemed to be.

"I'm a pirate after all, don't forget that. Why don't you stick around for a while and I'll work my magic?" the redhead said.

"Lavi!"

"Where are ya, ya stupid excuse for a captain?!"  
Allen's eyes widened in fear at the strange calls and he tensed up for a moment, before bolting out of sight with his sack of food.

"Wait! Don't go" the redheaded pirated called after the other.

When the filth smudged orphan did not return he gave a sigh and stood up, putting his hat back on as he headed to where his subordinates where waiting for him.

"Guys…" Lavi groaned once he reached them.

"Oh, were you doing something?" Lenalee asked.

"More or less. I did get some more rum and other drinks for the ship though," the captain replied.

The redhead gave a sigh and led his two cremates back to the ship. Giving one last look back to see if the orphan had come back, but the streets were devoid of the pale-haired boy.

The storm arrived that night and the crew safely hid in their cabins, and caught on much needed sleep. However the captain could be found restlessly riffling through books and plotting a new course, which would be discussed with his second in command Kanda when the storm subsided. His mind however was on the orphan named Allen. He really felt pity for the poor lad, who seemed to be frightened by everything, but was still very sharp minded.

"I could always use more members in my crew," the redhead murmured to himself.

Standing up from his desk he padded barefoot out of his cabin and onto the deck. With the storm still raging he saw no one on deck, with a sigh he came out from the slight overhang that was formed by the quarterdeck above his quarters. Almost immediately he got drenched by the rain, but uncaringly padded over the slippery deck towards the ship's prow. He leaned against the side railing, letting the rain soak him to the bones. Suddenly the howl of a wolf started up nearby, sounding sad and lonely. The sound made the redheaded pirate frown since wolves were not indigenous to that area, and the sound seemed to be coming from the village.

Something drew his gaze towards the docks and he peered through the rain, spotting a figure standing under the torch light under the overhang of one of the houses. Straining his eye against the rain he made out the features of the young orphan he had met earlier. Curiously he pushed himself away from the railing and padded over the deck, throwing a rope ladder over the side of the ship. Stealthily climbing down to the dock, once his bare feet touched the ground he headed towards the figure.

At first the boy shied away from the approaching pirate, but once he recognized Lavi he stayed put.

"Should ya be hiding from this rain?" the redhead captain asked.

"Same to you too. I'd figured that you'd be hiding in your cabin," the pale-haired orphan said.

"The rain helps me clear my head," the older teen said.

Allen looked around in a paranoid fashion, as if he was expecting someone to jump out and attack him.

"Relax lad, the rest of my crew's sleeping," the captain said.

The young orphan gave the redhead a look, and his gaze traveled towards Lavi's great black-sailed ship.

"Did ya want some grub?" Lavi asked.

"I didn't really come here for food, but I could always use some food," the younger teen replied.

"Let's go find a place to eat then," the young captain said.

"There's a tavern nearby we could try," Allen said.

"Lead the way lad." Lavi replied.

The pair made their way through the rain towards the nearest seaside tavern. Luckily the tavern took the both of them, courtesy of a hearty bribe from Lavi. The pirate's bribe made the orphan raise an eyebrow at the other, to which the redhead gave a shrug.

"So you're leaving when the storm blows over right?" the younger teen asked.

"That's right, oceans need to be explored, loot needs to be found and taken, rival ships need to be sunk," the older teen replied, making Allen inspect him curiously.

The orphan seemed to not have any grudges against pirates, but he seemed nervous and frightened nonetheless. Lavi doubted it was because of him, because that fear seemed to run deeper than that of just meeting a pirate.

"It must be fun traveling the seas," the younger teen murmured longingly.

"I could always use more recruits for my crew," the captain said.

Allen looked curiously at the pirate, but the look was also a sad one as if there was something holding him back.

"I'll think about it. I'll let you know before you set sail," the orphan replied.

The pirate nodded and they both began to eat the food that Lavi had gotten around to ordering. He sat staring in awe at Allen, as the boy devoured everything brought to him.

"How long has it been since ya last ate a good meal?" the redhead asked.

"I cant remember," the boy murmured.

Lavi looked passively at his companion, inspecting the boy to see if he was really worth a spot in his crew.

"That's no good. Gotta take better care of yerself," the pirate replied.

"Like its that easy," the young orphan scoffed.

The redheaded pirate gave a hearty laugh at the other's comment, causing the pale-haired teen to pout.

"I'd hate to leave, but I gotta get back to the ship 'fore they find out I'm gone." Lavi said to the boy.

"Thanks for the food." Allen said.

"Think about my offer," the pirate said.

"I will," the orphan replied.

Both walked back out into the rain side by side before parting ways. Lavi headed back to the docks while Allen headed the opposite way to god knows where. The redheaded pirate made snuck back onto his ship, only to come face to face with an elderly man with dark makeup around his eyes. It kinda made him look like a panda of sorts. The captain froze at the sight of the man and looked for a way to escape the oncoming lecture.

"Where have you been Junior? Are you not aware of the consequences of sneaking around unguarded and unarmed with your reputation?" The balding man scolded, throwing a kick at the redhead's shin.

With a swift speed the pirate avoided the kick and quickly disappeared into his quarters. Once in the safety of his grand cabin, he slumped down on an empty rum crate that he used for a stool. Gritting his teeth he grabbed his gun from his bed and fired several holes into a barrel in the corner. Moments of silence passed before the sound of gunshots drew two concerned members out.

"Lavi?!"  
"Captain?! Is everything alright?!"

The calls of his crewmates went unanswered by the troubled captain as he paced around his cabin.

"What the hell am I doing? I'm going soft….am I really becoming a bad captain?" he asked himself.

"No more nice pirate, it's time to keep living up to my reputation," he scoffed.

Lavi's mind went back to that orphan boy, whom he really wanted in his crew after having lost a few men several days earlier. Plus he wanted to get the boy out of his mind, so he could focus more on commanding his crew.

"Forget this; I'm gonna go get some shuteye." Lavi grumbled to himself.

Changing into some warmer and drier clothes, he climbed into his bed. Ignoring the periodic calls of Lenalee, who gave up after the fifth time and just let him be. Rocked by the motion of the ship on the water, the pirate captain fell asleep, joining his crew in much needed sleep.

The following day the storm cleared up and the air became cool and crisp. Lavi emerged from his cabin with a headache, fixing his bandana and hat as he padded out to the deck. They were to set out as soon as possible, and he wanted to make sure everything was shipshape for departure. Eyeing the dock to see if Allen had showed up, but he didn't spot the orphan anywhere. This left a sense of disappointment in the captain. He waited for a while as he shouted commands to his crew, but still the young orphan did not show. Accepting that loss he walked to the helm avoiding his scurrying crew.

"Alright ye seadogs! Set sail!" the captain's voice boomed over the ship.

With that order still ringing the air, the ship set sail towards the distant crystalline horizon.

o~x~x~x~x~o

**A/N: **And there ya have it folks, the end of the first chapter. I hope you enjoyed and let me know what you think!

Note: I'm not very familiar with pirate speak, so I looked some stuff up, but I felt like I'd be over doing it if I went full out with the pirate speech.

Review my lovelies and let me know what you think


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **so I recently finished this chapter and got excited to post it up, so here it is. This story is so amusing to write, I love it.

Thanks to: **Masked-Flame**, **msdragonwings**, **GreenGreyBlue**, and **SoulEaterEvansFan **for your reviews and to all the people that are reading this.

Note: this chapter was definitely fun to write.

Onwards to the story!

Enjoy~

o~x~x~x~x~o

The young captain kept his eyes on the crystalline waters and horizon as he steered the ship towards their new destination. There was not a cloud in the sky and the wind was blowing favorably, so overall a good trip lay ahead of them. About three hours into the voyage Lavi caught movement overhead. Turning his gaze away from the horizon he spotted a golden orb flying circles around his head, he narrowed his eyes at the peculiar thing as he watched it flapping its wings around. The thing suddenly perched on his hand that lay on the ship's helm and he took a chance to inspect it closely. It had a spherical shaped body with a cross were he assumed the face was supposed to be. Wings and a long tail protruded from the peculiar round body, along with little horns and what seemed like little feet.

"What the?" the redheaded pirate murmured.

The thing suddenly opened up a jaw he didn't know it had and bit down on his gloved hand and tried to drag him away from his spot.

"Ouch" Hey! What's the big idea!" the pirate exclaimed.

The winged sphere didn't relent and kept trying to drag him somewhere else other than his post.

"Oi, quit it ya damn pest." Lavi said with irritation in his voice, trying to swat the thing away from his person, but it didn't let go of his hand.

"Yuu! Get up here! I need ya to take over fer me!" he shouted down at the deck.

The rave-haired pirate, who had been checking on certain things around the deck, shouted back at his captain. Leaving his rounds to Lenalee, Kanda headed up to the quarterdeck.

"What is it, rabbit?" Kanda questioned, mildly irritated that Lavi had interrupted his rounds.

"There might be a stowaway on my ship, this little thing keeps wantin' me to follow it, so I'm gonna check it out," the redheaded pirate said.

"A stowaway? Why didn't ya catch 'em captain?" the other pirate said in both a serious and mocking tone.

"I only got one eye Yuu," the captain retorted.

"Yet ya try to put everything on yer shoulders. Swallow yer ego for a bit and ask for help once in a while, ya damn rabbit. Go catch that stowaway 'fore they find the rum." The dark-haired pirate said nonchalantly.

Silently Lavi turned and followed the strange golden orb, the thing ended up leading him to the cargo hold.

"So there is a stowaway on my ship," the pirate murmured to himself as he drew his gun from its holster.

Cautiously he followed the golden orb around the crates and barrels full of necessities, with his gun pointed ahead of him. The strange flying thing perched upon a barrel several feet ahead of him, and he silently approached the barrel. Carefully rounding the barrel he immediately pointed the gun at whoever was there without really looking.

"Cooperate and I won't shoot," the captain said, voice full of authority as he cocked the gun.

"Lavi?" Allen's shaky voice called, and he stared at the pirate with wide silver eyes.

"Allen?!" the redhead exclaimed, quickly putting the gun back in its holster.

The young orphan hesitantly came out of his hiding spot, and the flying orb perched on his head.

"What are ya doing in my cargo hold? If ya wanted to come ya should of just came to me lad," the captain said.

"I wanted it to be a secret that I was gone," the pale-haired orphan said.

"Ya shouldn't scare a pirate, lad. I almost put a bullet in that pretty head of yers." The redhead said.

"S-Sorry," the younger teen said sheepishly.

"Glad to see ya want to join my crew. Why don't we go up to the deck, and get Lenalee to get ya all settled with new clothes, and ya can wash up." Lavi said.

"I-I'm okay for now." Allen said nervously.

"Lad, ya smell like a week old fish left out in the sun too long. Trust me, no one here wants that smell ta stick around," the pirate said with a hearty laugh.

A light blush of embarrassment dusted the young orphan's cheeks, and he stayed silent as if weighing his options. The ship had already set said and he had no choice but to stay there, as there was no way back to land now.

"I guess me and Timcanpy will stick around for a while. Please respect my privacy though," the younger teen said uncertainly.

"There ain't no special treatment here lad. We're pirates not a high class travel vessel," the captain said in a serious tone.

Allen gave the pirate captain a look, his innocent silver irises shimmering sadly in the dim light of the cargo hold. Even the golden thing named Timcanpy, as the boy had called it, seemed to be giving the pirate a sad look as the little round body shuddered. Lavi was at a loss for words with this display and he wasn't quite sure what to do. Instead of saying anything he took a good look at the kid. The orphan was scrawny and malnourished, but looked strong and able enough. He did get a good look at the strange red mark on the other's face. It started as a pentagram on his forehead and cut through his eyebrow and eyelid before hooking at the cheek bone, continuing down his cheek until the mark stopped level with the corner of his mouth, a jagged curvy line cut through under his eye.

"I'll cut ya a deal. Since yer fresh meat, I'll take ya under my wing until you get the hang of things around here," the redheaded pirate said after a contemplative pause.

"Thank you." Allen said, truly grateful for those words.

"Next time I won't be so giving. I do have a reputation to uphold savvy?" the other said much more softly.

"I understand," the younger teen said in a murmur.

"Get goin' lad," the captain said with a mix of seriousness and mirth.

Lavi pushed Allen along towards the deck, all mirth gone from his person and replace by a stoic calmness.

"I forgot to ask ya, what is that golden thing you have there?" the redhead asked, before they stepped out on deck.

"My pet, his name is Timcanpy," the young orphan replied.

The redhead nodded in a gesture that he understood and pushed the boy out into the deck of his ship. Stepping out behind the kid, he surveyed the goings on of his crew who were all running different errands or simply walking about.

"My lad, welcome aboard the Black Rabbit, home to one of the most dangerous and able pirate crews on the sea. Led by yers truly Captain Lavi Bookman Jr." Lavi said, voice booming over the deck, causing the men to stop and stare at their captain.

Kanda, who'd been at the helm, was now heading their way with Lenalee left behind at the helm. Allen quickly spotted the irritable raven-haired pirate, and hid behind the redhead besides him.

"This is the stowaway?" Kanda questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Aye, lad's not a danger to us. Talked to 'im back in the village," the redhead replied.

Kanda critically inspected the young orphan, who was currently using Lavi as a shield, and gave a sound of disapproval.

"I don't think this one's cut out for the crew," the pirate said.

"Why's that?" the redhead asked calmly.

"Too scrawny and wimpy lookin'. We should just throw 'im overboard already." Kanda said.

"Excuse me?" Allen said from behind Lavi, sounding very offended.

"Ya heard me!" the other exclaimed.

"Now, Yuu be nice to 'im," the captain ordered calmly.

"Tch," the raven-haired pirate huffed before walking away.

"That was Kanda, my second-in-command. He's a bit stingy," the redhead said to the orphan.

"I'll say," the younger murmured, causing the other to laugh.

"I'll introduce ya to the rest of ta crew once ya have washed up a bit." Lavi said, calling Lenalee over.

Once again Allen shied behind the pirate captain as the new face approached.

"Now, now ya don't need ta be scared of Lenalee, the lass won't hurt ya," the redhead said, amused.

Nodding silently he stepped out from behind Lavi and politely greeted Lenalee, who smiled at the boy.

"Lenalee would ya get some clothes for the lad, and show 'im were ta wash up?" the captain asked, but it sounded more like an order.

"Aye, aye," she replied.

"Allen, go with the little lass. She'll give ya what ya need," the redheaded pirate said.

"O-Okay," the pale-haired orphan replied with hesitance.

The younger teen reluctantly went with Lenalee, who had been patiently waiting for him to follow, and Lavi shook his head as he watched them go.

"Lad's scared of his own shadow. Maybe this crew will do 'im some good. I'll harden 'im up in no time," the captain mumbled to himself, as he headed back to his spot at the helm.

A while later he spotted Allen walking up to the quarterdeck, looking much more cleaner than when he'd been found back at the village. Lavi quickly inspected the boy and deemed that the clothes he was wearing really suited him. Although his form was hidden by a long coat and his hair was still hidden by a less tattered rag.

"Hey mate, everything shipshape?" Lavi asked him.

"Yeah, it's fine," the other replied.

For a moment the two became silent as the redhead focused on navigating the ship. The silence was broken by the crew suddenly starting up a song, and Allen curiously listened. Lavi's voice soon joined that of his crew, and the men on the ship sung a little more enthusiastically once their captain joined in. Unsure of what he should be doing, or expected to do, the orphan sat down on a corner of the quarterdeck. Lavi who had an uncanny lazy radar, sensed that someone on his ship was not doing anything at all. Letting his singing die out he turned around and gave the orphan a look. Allen met the pirate's gaze and suddenly felt anxious and mildly frightened, he didn't know if he was doing anything wrong.

"Allen what are ya doing?" the redheaded pirate questioned.

"U-uh, I-I'm supposed to be doing something?" the snowy-haired orphan stammered, immediately standing up.

Lavi watched the young orphan for a moment, gaze softening at the scared and nervous boy. Not being able to bring himself to be harsh to the boy when he was so scared.

Come 'ere," the pirate motioned.

Hesitantly Allen walked over to the redhead and silently stood next to the captain. The redheaded pirate took the younger's hands and placed them on the helm.

"Do ya know how to steer a ship?" the pirate asked.

"N-No," the orphan replied.

"I'll show ya." Lavi said, not moving from the boy's side.

The redhead placed his hands over Allen's causing the orphan to tense up. Lavi didn't really seem bothered by the contact and began to teach the boy of the wonders of steering the Black Rabbit. The pirate's calmness caused Allen to relax and listen carefully to the captain, and they spend a while like that in close contact.

o~x~x~x~x~o

**A/N: **so adorableeeee, I just had to end it like that. I hope you enjoyed this chapter; it really was a fun write.

Review me lovelies, I hope to hear what ya think ^-^

Until next chapter!

P.S. I didnt name the ship, Lavi did XD its his ship anywhooo


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **I have this little update for you; I just finished writing this chapter in my notebook recently after my convention craze. I do find this chapter a bit interesting.

Thanks To: **Masked-Flame**, **Magicsinger**, **SoulEaterEvansFan**,** DGrayManFanatic**, **Guest**, **Lavi the Ninja Panda**, and **EponineRin **for your lovely reviews, and to all my readers as well.

Onwards to the story!

Enjoy~

o~x~x~x~x~o

Lavi and Allen both stayed at the helm for a long while, as the orphan was deemed too anxious by the redhead to properly meet anyone. The pirate kept the younger teen by his side, so the jumpy youth didn't have an anxiety attack. Timcanpy was always perched on the boy's head, taking to snapping occasionally at Lavi if he got too close to Allen.

"Captain!" Kanda's voice reached them, from where he was perched on the main mast.

"Aye?" the redhead shouted back.

"Sail, ho! Eight o'clock port side!" was the other's answer.

Frowning, the captain took out a brass telescope from his coat and looked through it in the direction that Kanda had mentioned. Allen stood besides Lavi with a confused expression, unsure of what was going on but having a feeling that it was important. The orphan was standing close enough to the redhead that he caught the sound of the other's gasp.

"Duck!" the captain yelled to his crew.

The redheaded pirate grabbed the young orphan and shielded the younger with his body, moments before what felt like a cannonball struck the flank of the Black Rabbit. The entire ship gave a great shudder, and filled their ears with a wooden groan as it righted itself from the impact.

"Yuu! We're under attack! Get the crew ready fer battle!" Lavi shouted, still shielding the frightened orphan.

Another missile struck the Black Rabbit, but the attacking ship's aim was off and the cannonball went through one of the black sails.

"Ya alright lad?" the redhead asked, letting Allen go.

The orphan nodded silently, looking at the captain with wide frightened eyes. Lavi took a hold of the helm and turned the ship so they were heading towards the attacking vessel. Down on the main deck Kanda was shouting orders and the crew was in a frenzy trying to defend their ship.

"Lavi?" Allen asked confused and scared.

The redheaded pirate turned to look at the young orphan and gave a soft smile, removing his hat and placing it on the younger's head.

Don't ya worry lad. Everythin' is goin' to be fine, my crew's the best," the captain said. "These are the risks of being a pirate."

Nodding slightly Allen looked out over the waters, spotting the attacking vessel in the distance. The other ship was small compared to the Black Rabbit, but the vessel seemed to be out for blood. Lavi was looking through his looking glass again, seemingly surveying the other vessel to for a plan of action. Kanda appeared on the quarterdeck, and he spotted Allen giving the boy a nasty look. It caused the other to pull Lavi's hat low over his face in an attempt to hide it.

"Orders Captain?" the raven-haired pirate asked, ignoring the pale-haired orphan.

"Sink it," the redhead pirate replied in a serious tone.

"Aye, aye." Kanda replied without rebuttal and disappeared again.

"Why sink it?" Allen questioned.

"Ya wouldn't let an enemy live if yer a pirate. Else they can come back and kill ya in yer sleep," the captain murmured.

"You don't seem as bad as you make yourself out to be," the young orphan said.

"That's were yer wrong, mate. Ya haven't seen anythin' yet." Lavi replied, taking his hat back from the younger.

Looking downcast by the goings on, Allen held his hand out for Timcanpy and the fluttering golden orb perched there. The pirate captain watched the orphan silently for several heartbeats, before focusing back on the situation at hand. All in all the attacking vessel ended up floating down towards the ocean floor, any survivors being killed on sight by the crew of the Black Rabbit. The Black Rabbit herself suffered only minor damages, but Lavi ordered the ship to be stopped nonetheless. He told Lenalee to go fetch her brother to see if he could do some repairs out in the ocean. Lenalee's older brother, Komui ended up on the quarterdeck after a few quick moments ready to speak to Lavi. Allen caught sight of Komui and froze letting out a low whimper as fear slinked into his heart. Gazing upon that familiar yet terrible face and Komui looked shocked by the orphan's presence.

"Walker?" the Chinese man asked.

"W-Why are you here?" the young teen stammered.

Lavi was quite confused by this new development, but the look on the young orphan's face mildly filled him with concern. Before anything else could be said Allen turned tail and fled, Timcanpy quickly flying after him.

"Allen?" the redheaded pirate called after the orphan.

Leaving his spot at the helm and Komui, the captain chased after the young recruit. Following the orphan back into the cargo hold, and once more being led to the youth's location by Timcanpy.

"Allen?" the pirate asked lowly, kneeling besides the boy.

Allen didn't respond or look at Lavi and just huddled in a corner created by crates. The pirate captain watched the boy for several long moments before a frown came to his face.

"Allen, look at me." Lavi ordered harshly.

The younger teen flinched visibly and turned around to give the redhead a frightened look. The redhead's gaze softened and he sat down in front of the boy, who didn't relax and took to looking at him with wide silver eyes.

"Listen lad, ya ain't gonna get anywhere around here with that attitude of yers. Ya can't expect me to always be looking out fer ya." Lavi said in a soft tone.

"I know…but." Allen hesitated, unsure of what he wanted to say and just looked away.

"We had a deal remember? But ya got to look out fer yerself too. I can't do all the work for ya," the redhead said.

" I understand, but tell me one thing," the young orphan said.

"Aye?" the pirate replied.

"Why is Komui on the ship? I didn't know he was a pirate," the younger teen said.

"He isn't, he's only here 'cause his little sister is on this ship and he has a nasty sister complex," the other replied.

"I see." Allen murmured.

"How do ya know Komui? Ya seemed kinda scared when ya saw 'im," the captain said.

"Komui and I met some years back under undesirable circumstances." The pale-haired orphan replied.

"Did he do something to ya? He does have a nasty habit of doing insane experiments, but he's good at fixin' stuff around here," the redheaded pirate said.

"I really wouldn't blame just him." Allen said and looked away.

Timcanpy fluttered about their heads a few times before settling on Allen's head, and took to trying to bite Lavi. The redhead left the conversation at that, figuring that he'd find out sooner or later what the boy was hiding. The captain was getting annoyed at the little golden ball named Timcanpy, and made sure to keep his person away from its mouth.

"Let's go back on deck, Komui won't hurt ya anymore," the pirate said.

Reluctantly the younger teen took to following the captain up to the deck, and both acted as if nothing happened. Allen went up to the quarterdeck followed by Lavi, who stopped to speak with Kanda in low tones.

"Why are ye giving that brat special treatment?" the irritable teen grumbled.

"I ain't giving 'im special treatment. Keep yer nose outta how I train my recruits, or I swear yer gonna have a mysterious accident and fall overboard," the redhead growled.

Kanda simply left without another word, causing the redheaded pirate to roll his eyes. It took a few hours to get the Black Rabbit up and running, and they continued their course to towards the sun sinking in the horizon. Allen ended up having to share the captain's cabin with Lavi, because his orders to get a cabin cleaned up for the orphan didn't get followed, and it pissed him off.

Lavi went about his cabin to fix up a comfortable place for the younger teen to rest; said teen was standing awkwardly by the cabin's door. The redhead looked over at the orphan and motioned for Allen to come over. Hesitantly the young orphan walked over to the pirate, before him was a comfortable pile of pillows and blankets.

"Sorry, I don't have anythin' better right now," the redheaded pirate said.

"It's alright, I've slept on worse," the younger teen said.

Lavi gave the orphan a wry smile to which the orphan responded with a shrug, as he climbed onto the makeshift bed.

"I don't want any trouble makin' on this ship unless in includes me. Ya stay put in that bed savvy?"

"Yes," the younger replied.

"What was that?" the other said more sternly.

"Uh...Yes sir?" Allen tried again.

"Try again," the pirate said.

"Uhm…Aye, aye?" the orphan said after a pause.

"There ya go," the redhead said a bit cheerily.

The pale-haired teen did not respond after that and just curled up on his makeshift bed to sleep. Lavi followed the boy's example and fell asleep, leaving the night duties under Kanda's command as usual.

Around the early midnight hours, the redhead was woken by the howling of a wolf. It was the same sad, lonely howl as the one he had heard back in the village. However what really made him frown was the fact that it was coming from the deck of his ship. Getting out of bed he took the already lit oil lamp and looked to where Allen was supposedly resting, and saw nothing but a lump. His frown deepened at this and he headed out to the deck. Once outside his cabin Lavi inspected the deck, the man in charge of keeping a look out was fast asleep, only serving to anger the redhead. Over by the bow of the ship, he spotted Allen's frail form and walked up to him.

"Ya alright lad?" the redhead said to the boy.

The orphan turned looking startled, giving the redheaded pirate a frightened look.

"Oh, it's only you Lavi." Allen murmured, relieved.

The redhead looked the boy over with a critical eye, before looking back over the deck.

"Hey, did ya hear a wolf howl just now?" the redheaded pirate asked.

After a moment's pause the orphan replied that he hadn't seen or heard a wolf, and that the pirate was just too tired and hallucinating. After that Lavi led the boy back to his cabin and told him to go to bed and stay put. Allen did follow his instructions but the next morning he didn't even get up from his place. Timcanpy tried to attack Lavi every time the redhead tried to get Allen to get up. At one point the redhead just gave up and slumped onto the crate he used as a stool.

"Allen, mate. Talk to me, are ye feeling ill?" the captain asked, not wanting the rest of his crew to fall ill as well.

The young orphan said nothing, but gave a soft shrug.

"Ya don't know what's wrong?" the redhead pried.

The boy didn't speak still but gave him answer in a nod. Timcanpy on the other hand seemed to know something and Lavi decided to take advantage of that.

"Hey, Timcanpy,"" the pirate called.

The golden orb flew off his perch on one of the pillows and headed towards Lavi, landing on the redhead's hand.

"Do you know what's wrong with Allen?" he asked.

Timcanpy made a motion as if he was nodding and flapped his wings slightly.

"Is he ill?" the pirate asked.

Timcanpy turned in the direction of the orphan and then looked back at the redhead and flapped his wings as if saying that he wasn't sure.

"He better not be ill, I can't afford sickness on my ship." Lavi said.

The little golden orb flew off Lavi's hand and perched back on the pillow that Allen's head was on. The captain gave a slight frown and walked over to the pale-haired orphan and kneeled down by the younger teen. Timcanpy made to bite the redhead, but the pirate flicked the little thing away.

"Maybe I'll take ya to see Bookman, he'll figure out what's wrong." Lavi said.

The redheaded pirate found himself with no choice but to pick up the orphan, since he didn't seem like he was going to move anytime soon. Timcanpy perched on Lavi's hair as he walked out of his cabin with his cargo. Ignoring the curious looked of his crew; he headed over to his grandfather's cabin and knocked on the door. The elderly man opened the door after a few moment's pause and gave his grandson a look.

"Junior?" Bookman questioned.

"This lad ain't feeling so well, but I don't know what's wrong with 'im," the pirate said.

"What do you want me t do?" the other questioned.

"Take a look at 'im." Lavi replied.

The teen's grandfather gave a sigh and let them into the room, the redhead sat Allen down on the bed. The elderly man went ahead and looked the orphan over.

"Junior, where did you find this boy?" Bookman asked.

"He's an orphan, found 'im in the last village we stopped at. He snuck onto the ship after I offered 'im a place in my crew." Lavi replied.

"Lad has a high fever Junior," his grandfather said.

The elderly man tried to remove the rag from the other's head, which caused the orphan to protest so in the end he was only able to get his forehead free. Bookman went to get a basin full of water and dipped a cloth into the cool water, placing it on the boy's forehead.

"Junior, you can go now. I'll take care of the boy." Bookman told his grandson.

"Ya sure Old Man?" Lavi asked.

"Scram, your crew needs you," the elderly man scolded.

Grumbling the redheaded captain walked out of the room after Timcanpy flew off his head and perched near Allen.

"Useless brat." Bookman grumbled.

"I heard that Old Man!" Lavi yelled.

Shaking his head the elderly man went about doing things and making sure that Allen was taken care of. The orphan was too thin for Bookman's liking but he wanted to wait and get the boy's fever down before giving him some nourishment.

o~x~x~x~x~o

**A/N: **Lookie I finished it XD I hope that you enjoyed reading this chapter, I liked writing it.

Review my lovelies, it makes my day.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **So I do have some news for you guys, I have been sick for a while now and this chapter was the only thing I could get out. However to those who are following both this story and Shattered Snow, I do have some bad news, the next chapter of Shattered Snow won't be up until next week or so, because I did run into some complications concerning the contents of the upcoming chapter, but please bear with me.

Thanks To: **anakarockerster**, **EponineRin**, **That Strange Blue Eyed Girl**, **Masked-Flame **and **Kiari Walker** for your ever so lovely reviews and a shout out to all my readers as well.

Note: As an apology for not posting the next chapter of Shattered Snow anytime soon, I give you some well placed fluff in this chapter.

Onwards to the story!

Enjoy~

o~x~x~x~x~o

Lavi had Allen moved to an empty cabin at some point during the day, the orphan really wasn't as worse off as he looked according to Bookman the boy was doing better. However he had the young orphan placed under quarantine so his crew wasn't too exposed to whatever Allen had for the time being. During the late afternoon he decided to check up on the young orphan. As the redhead neared the younger teen's room, he ran into his grandfather.

"Hey, Gramps." Lavi greeted nonchalantly.

"What are you doing here Junior?" the elderly man asked.

"Came to see how the little lad was doing, it's my responsibility if the lad dies or something," the redhead replied.

"The lad is doing better, his fever broke earlier today. However he doesn't want to eat." Bookman told him.

"Doesn't want to eat?" the pirate questioned.

"Aye, if you're going in there, please try to get him to eat. It worries me that he so underweight and malnourished," his grandfather said.

"I'll see what I can do," the young captain said.

Lavi went into the room he'd given Allen without another word to Bookman. When he entered the cabin Timcanpy came and perched on his head, ignoring the little golden orb he went over to Allen's bedside.

"Hey lad, how are ya feeling?" the redhead asked.

The pale-haired orphan shifted on the bed and looked silently at the pirate, whom sat down on the edge of the bed. Even from the captain's perspective the boy did not look a hundred percent.

"The Old Man told me ya won't, why's that?" Lavi spoke calmly at the boy.

"I'm not hungry," the orphan murmured.

"Ya gotta eat lad, it'll make ya stronger," the redhead said.

Allen turned away from the pirate and stayed in a contemplative silence, before speaking again.

"I don't think I'm cut out for your crew, Lavi," the young orphan murmured.

"Why not? If yer worried about something just come out and say it," the redheaded pirate said with a frown.

"I just don't think someone like me is cut out for your crew," the younger replied.

"Listen lad, it's not like ya got anywhere else to go right? Why not stay with us for a while and try yer best," the captain said in an encouraging manner.

Allen slowly rose to a sitting position and stared at Lavi for a few heartbeats. Neither teen said anything and the younger teen suddenly collapsed against the other.

"Lad, ya alright?" the redhead asked.

The young orphan said nothing still but the pirate's smell caught his attention for a few moments. The redhead smelled like salty ocean breeze, gun powder and cinnamon. Lavi curiously placed his hand against the other's forehead, relieved that the fever had not come back.

"C'mon mate, ya gotta eat to get stronger," the redheaded pirate tried again.

Allen shook his head and stubbornly puffed his cheeks out, causing an argument to spark up between the two. Lavi ended up in a foul mood and Allen still had no food in his stomach. The redhead was oozing a venomous aura, but decided against harming the frail orphan in front of him, instead deciding on taking out his anger on his crew.

"I know what will make you feel better," the captain piped up.

"What is it?" the younger teen asked.

"Fresh ocean air." Lavi replied.

Allen didn't protest to this and let the pirate lead him up to the deck, the redhead's venomous aura seemed to precede him and most of his crew seemed to have mysteriously disappeared from sight. The ones who didn't not go anywhere were Lenalee, Kanda, some vampiric looking man with odd hair that Allen didn't know, and some of the more seasoned sailors used to the redhead's wrath. Lavi walked up to the helm with the weakened orphan pressed against his side, relieving Lenalee from the helm. The redhead then started mercilessly dishing out orders to everyone who hadn't gone into hiding, both joyfully and with venom in his voice.

"Krory! Swab the deck till ya can't swab anymore, will ya!" the captained shouted to the odd looking man.

"Lenalee, go get me some rum," he said to her, in a sweeter tone.

"Who shoved a stick up yer ass, rabbit?" Kanda grumbled.

"Yuu, I'd like ya to join Krory in swabbing the deck," the pirated captain said in a sickly sweet tone.

Kanda did not seem pleased by the suggestion and voiced his discontent, to which Lavi did not react kindly to.

"Ya wouldn't want me to bring out _that_ would ya?" the redhead said, still in that unsettling sickly sweet tone.

The dark-haired pirate grumbled a set of curses in a language that Allen didn't understand and went off to help Krory.

"What did you just threaten him with?" Allen questioned, with a cough.

" Somethin' I use to discipline stubborn people. Technically yer only supposed to use that tactic on traitors…" the redhead replied.

Lenalee came back not long after Lavi had set Kanda to help Krory and handed the pirate captain a bottle of rum before saying something about helping her brother and disappearing. Bookman came along when he found out that Allen was no longer in his bed, scolding Lavi for taking the orphan outside. Completely ignoring his grandfather he ordered for one of the nearest sailors to bring an empty crate for Allen to sit on, as he took a drink of the bottle. The orphan simply stayed silent and watched the goings on with Timcanpy perched on his hand.

"Ya doing alright there lad?" Lavi asked, briefly looking at the pale-haired teen.

"I'd rather go to bed, but the air is helping a bit," the young orphan replied.

"I'll let ya go sleep if ya eat some," the redhead said.

Allen simply stared at the older teen, seemingly contemplating his options at the moment. He didn't really feel like eating, but he was a bit hungry so he decided to humor the redheaded pirate.

"I am getting a bit hungry after all," the pale-haired orphan admitted.

The captain looked over at Allen and gave a tiny smile, which slightly unsettled the younger teen.

"I knew ya'd see it my way," the pirate said taking yet another swig of his rum.

Allen said nothing but looked at the bottle of rum in the other's hand and gave a small disapproving frown. The look didn't go unnoticed by Lavi and he followed the younger's gaze to the bottle in his hand.

"What? Do ya want some?" the redhead asked.

"No, that's okay," the orphan said, "Let's just get food."

Lavi nodded and helped the other to his feet, leading him down to the ship's eating area, leaving Kanda in charge.

" 'Ello Jerry," the pirate greeted the cook as he popped into the kitchen.

"What can I get for ya sweetie?" Jerry asked.

Jerry was a peppy man with an olive complexion and his hair was in tight braids, to Allen however he seemed unsettlingly flamboyant.

"Actually I got a new mouth for ya to feed," the pirate captain said, pushing the pale-haired teen towards the cook.

"Oooh, what a cute face! Where'd ya find him sweetie?" the cook questioned as he fussed over Allen.

"The last village we stopped at." Lai replied casually.

"What can I get for ya cutie? Maybe a bowl of soup, ya don't look too well." Jerry said.

"That doesn't sound too bad actually. Can I get a large portion of soup and maybe bread and tea if you have any," the young orphan asked politely.

"Lavi this one really is a keeper. Better take good care of the little lad!" the cook cooed and disappeared into his kitchen.

"I though ya were only a wee bit hungry," the redhead said.

"I am." Allen said in a monotone, making the older teen blink.

Lavi said nothing further and they both sat down at one of the tables in the eating area after Jerry gave Allen his food. The orphan immediately stunned the pirate by nearly inhaling everything in front of him in only a matter of minutes. For several moments neither teen said anything, Lavi just stared at the younger in stunned silence finishing his bottle of rum while Timcanpy picked up any crumbs. Recovering from his momentary daze, the redhead led them back to the deck and the young orphan began to protest.

"But you said I could go to bed after I ate!" Allen said.

"I might have lied a bit, but I do need to check on things up here," the pirate replied.

"I'm tired, Lavi. Iwant to sleep," the orphan continued to whine.

"If ya keep whining I'm gonna toss ya overboard," the captain snapped, successfully shutting the younger up.

Lavi placed Allen on the crate he's been sitting in earlier as he went to go see how everything was going. Bookman came by again to scold the redhead when he saw that Allen was still out of bed. Luckily for Allen he wasn't too sick, but he was really tired and wanted to nap some. The orphan noted that the pirate captain was becoming increasingly anxious as he paced back and forth on the quarterdeck, constantly looking at the horizon through his brass telescope.

"Lavi, is there something wrong?" the young orphan finally got around to asking, as he watched the other pace.

"It's nothing," the other replied.

"Liar." Kanda's gruff voice interjected.

"I ain't lying!" Lavi defended.

"The why don't ya tell the crew that a storm is headed for us?" the raven-haired pirate asked.

"A storm? Is that bad?" Allen questioned.

Kanda took one look at the orphan and gave a scoff at the poor clueless boy.

"Yer ignorance kills, bean. I don't know why this idiot of a captain is keeping ya around. Yer obviously useless and a waste of space on the ship." Kanda spat harshly.

Allen looked at the irritable pirate with a horrified look, and the quickly turned his head away to hide tear of shame from view. None of this went unnoticed by the redheaded captain and a small frown crossed his face as he watched the orphan.

"Yuu, stop harassing my recruit or the next stop yer gonna be taking is to Davy Jones' locker, ya dirty bilge rat." Lavi hissed with as much venom as Kanda had given poor Allen.

"Yer going soft, rabbit," the other pirate said.

"I ain't going soft," the redhead growled.

"I don't believe ya," the dark-haired pirate said.

"Allen, why don't ya go to my cabin for a while, little lad." Lavi said to the teary eyed orphan.

Said orphan gave the redheaded pirate a tearful look before getting up from the crate and going down to Lavi's private quarters. Once the young orphan was out of earshot and out of sight, the redhead turned sharply to face his second in command.

"Listen here Yuu. I ain't going soft, as a captain I have to learn to deal with different people in different ways. Allen is just a child who's scared of his own shadow. 'Course the training tactics I use on ya boys are too rough for 'im," the captain explained to Kanda in an unfriendly tone.

"He's weak, rabbit. If he can't handle rough training then he's a useless weakling." Kanda said.

"I suppose ya want everyone on this ship to be just like ya. Ya may be my second in command but I rule the Black Rabbit. My word is law and what I say goes, if yer not happy then I suggest ya jump from this ship right now," the pirate captain shouted with a tone of authority.

Kanda by this point had acknowledged the other's anger and the fact that it was next to impossible to argue with the captain right then and said nothing further.

"Go prepare for the storm," the redhead said and walked off.

Lavi cautiously entered his cabin and looked around for Allen. Finding the orphan curled up in the middle of his bed, shoulders shaking and Timcanpy hovering over him. The redhead cautiously approached the bed and sat down on the edge. Allen didn't stir and the pirate noted that his eyes were closed, tears oozing from the closed eyelids. Allen didn't seem to be aware of the fact that Lavi was in the room. Lavi watched the orphan, his face the picture of calmness while he was actually debating about Allen. The redhead's eye narrowed slightly and he brushed some of the snowy strands away from the orphan's pale face with the back of his fingers.

_This lad is so fragile, what am I gonna do with 'im? _The captain thought to himself.

Pensively running the back of his fingers against the boy's porcelain pale skin in an unusually gentle manner. The orphan cracked his eyes open and the pirate pulled his hand back. Allen sat up when he saw Lavi, still crying silently his body shaking slightly. The redheaded pirate gave a small friendly smile as he wiped the other's tears away with the sleeve of his coat.

"Don't let Yuu's words get to ya lad. He means no harm, but ya gotta prove yerself to him like all new recruits before he can somewhat accept ya," the redhead said.

"Maybe I really am useless." Allen murmured.

"I wouldn't have offered ya a spot in my ship if I didn't think ya had potential to be in my crew." Lavi said.

"You think so?" the pale-haired teen asked.

"Aye," the redhead confirmed.

Allen didn't really look too convinced by the pirate, but he found no real reason to disagree with the older teen.

"Ya get some rest here little lad, I'll be up at the helm if ya need anything from me," the pirate captain said.

"Thank you, Lavi. I think I'll rest for a bit," the young orphan murmured.

"Alright." Lavi said, wiping more stray tears from the younger's face, "Nothing to cry about anymore lad."

The redhead rose from the bed and walked back out to where he was needed, leaving Allen to rest. The horizon was noticeably darker for miles either side, the storm seemed to be headed towards them leaving them with no escape from its wrath. Lavi saw that the preparations for the storm were going well and he took his place at the helm. A couple of hours later the storm was upon them, rocking the great ship with vicious waves, rain could be smelt but it wasn't coming down yet. Allen was awakened by the harsh rocking and the waves crashing around the Black Rabbit's flanks. The younger teen crawled out of Lavi's bed, almost tripping over his own feet as he nearly lost balance. The orphan headed up to the quarterdeck with much difficulty.

"Allen! What are ya doing up here?" Lavi called.

The younger teen went towards the redhead and stood unsteadily next to the taller teen.

"I got woken up," he replied, giggling slightly as Timcanpy hid inside his shirt.

"Allen, I want ya to grab the wheel as hard as ya can and don't let go of it," the redhead said.

"Why?" the young orphan asked.

"Ya probably already noticed that the storms upon us." Lavi chuckled.

Allen took a look around, noting the big waves crashing against the ship and the ominous dark skies. The young orphan clutched onto the redhead's coat with one hand for reassurance and with the other he clutched onto the ship's wheel. Not long after rain started pouring down on them making footing treacherous and visibility nil. Lavi calmly tried to steer the Black Rabbit through the storm with the help of the young orphan clutching onto him for dear life.

The storm lasted a little over half an hour and the crew ended up worn and exhausted from the venture. Much to Lavi's dismay the ship took heavy damage from the storm. The damage was extensive and this caused Lavi to change course towards the nearest port.

"Ya alright lad?" the redhead asked Allen. Who was still clutching onto his coat.

"I…think so," the other replied.

"Go to yer room Allen. Dry off and get some rest until we get to the next port," the redheaded captain said.

The orphan nodded and hobbled off below deck to change his soaked clothing and get some much needed rest. The going was slow for the damaged ship and Lavi decided to turn in for the night and leave one of his subordinated in charge of the slow moving ship, mostly because Bookman and Kanda were on his heels after he almost collapsed from exhaustion.

The redheaded pirate suddenly woke up some time in the night by a strange warmth curled up to him. Cracking his eye open he looked around his dimly lit cabin, gaze falling on a big furry lump on his bed.

"What in the…" he murmured.

The furry lump moved and turned its head towards him, Lavi's eye widened as he found himself face to face with a wolf. Yelping rather loudly he backed away from it, successfully managing to fall of the side of his bed with a muted thump.

o~x~x~x~x~o

**A/N: **I love this chapter, the fluff, the way Lavi defended Allen,Kanda's rudeness, the scene when Allen was crying in Lavi's cabin, the cliffhanger ending. I loved writing it all!

Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

Note: if you guys were wondering or something about the size of the Black Rabbit for it to have so many things. Lavi's ship is massive…and very expensive…but he's pirate.

Review my lovelies, I love to hear what you all think.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **So I had this chapter all finished in my notebook for quite some time, and I finally got around to typing it up. So here it is…I decided to shed some light on Allen in this chapter, so enjoy.

Thanks to: **That Strange Blue Eyed Girl**, **Masked-Flame**, **EponineRin**, **Death-Sama01**,** Guest**, **fullmetal96100 **and to all my readers out there.

Note: I love how Lavi misjudges Allen's age.

Onwards to the story~

Enjoy!

o~x~x~x~x~o

Lavi groaned and sat up looking over at the wolf, which cautiously approached the edge of the bed. It was hard to make out the wolf's details in the dying light of the oil lamp. The redhead jolted slightly when the wolf's cold nose touched his face. The strange wolf sniffed him a bit, before letting out a low whine and fleeing from the cabin.

"Hey! Wait!" the redhead called after the strange creature.

Relighting his oil lamp he padded after the wolf, but the mysterious creature had disappeared. Something led him to Allen's cabin; unsure of what it was that had brought him here. Cautiously he entered the room and silently looked about the semi-empty room. Allen's clothes were strewn all over the foot of the bed; they looked to be torn and unusable.

"Allen?" the pirate whispered as he silently approached the bed.

The young orphan was lying on his stomach on the bed, his torso was bared while the rest of him was under blankets and his head was buried under the pillows.

"Allen," the redhead called again, placing a hand on the orphan's bare back.

The young orphan groaned slightly but made no other move to acknowledge the elder teen. The pirate captain poked the younger's side trying to get the other to respond, and this time he succeeded. The young orphan gave a whine in protest and shifted onto his back. Lavi sensed that something was wrong with the younger teen, and his hand gravitated towards Allen's forehead.

"Allen, yer burning up lad!" the redhead exclaimed.

"D-Don't get Bookman," the orphan said.

The redheaded pirate was at a loss for what to do with the boy; he placed the lit oil lamp on a hook on the wall above the bed. Jolting slightly when he found Allen looking at him with one silver eye. The intensity and intelligence in the gaze sent chills down his spine.

"Lad, Bookman is the medic here," the captain tried to reason with him.

"No…Bookman," the orphan murmured.

Under the light of the oil lamp Lavi could see that what was visible of Allen's face was flushed. A thin film of sweat covered the boy's too thin body, and occasional shivers wracked his body.

"Get some clothes on lad, ya ain't gonna get better like that," the redhead said.

"Could you maybe turn around?" the young orphan asked.

"Why? Isn't it just yer shirt?" the pirate questioned, sounding slightly unsure.

Allen just gave him a pointed look, and wheels started turning in the captain's head.

"Ooh, well alright," the redheaded pirate said in realization.

He turned from the boy and walked a few steps towards the wooden door, stopping before its wooden surface. Lavi could clearly hear the orphan shuffling around behind and entertained himself by listening to the sounds, he assumed the Lenalee had stocked the boy up on clothing for he knew that the ones lying on the floor were unusable.

"O-Okay, I'm done," the pale-haired teen said.

Lavi slowly turned around and found the orphan snuggled back on the bed, head not buried under the pillows this time, but the rag he seemed to like wearing was loosely tied on his head. It was haphazardly tied so quite a bit of his white hair was exposed. The pirate captain placed his hand on Allen's forehead again, and frowned at the heat radiating from the other's skin. With a sigh he went to get a basin full of water and a cloth, dipping the cloth in the cool water and placed it on the boy's unsettled Lavi to have the boy's gaze on his as he moved. Allen still had intense yet intelligent look trained on the redhead.

"Allen, maybe I shouldn't have taken ya out yesterday," the redheaded pirate said to the youth, sitting down at the edge of the bed.

"You don't need to feel sorry for me Lavi, I've been through worse." Allen said raising a hand towards the pirate, "Don't let that icy heart of yours melt for me and get yourself in trouble with your people. I'm nobody special for that."

The young orphan tapped the captain's chest just over his heart as he said those words. The redheaded pirate simply stared at Allen as the other's words sunk into his mind. A small frown crossed the redhead's face but was replaced by a gentle expression.

"Allen…"he murmured.

The orphan suddenly grabbed Lavi's collar pulling his hand into a fist as he pulled the elder teen close, so their faces were mere inches apart. The younger's expression turned into a cold one, the complete opposite of the usually gentle expression.

"I don't need your pity, Lavi. I'm not a child anymore; I've been living on the streets for years!" Allen spat.

The younger's sudden change in demeanor surprised the redhead and it took him a while to finally respond.

"Lad, I ain't here to give ya pity. I ain't any family of yers, I'm yer captain. I'll look after ya because it's my duty, but I ain't yer father," the pirate said after a pause.

"You're a good captain Lavi. Don't let me jeopardize your purpose," the pale-haired orphan murmured.

Allen placed his free hand against the redhead's cheek, caressing the soft skin lightly.

"Don't waste your time on me," the orphan said.

Both looked at each other for several silent moments, Lavi had a strange expression featured in his one emerald iris. The younger teen was giving the pirate a serious yet pleading look, one hand still against the older teen's cheek and the other holding the redhead in place by the fabric of his clothing.

"I'm not going to give up on ya lad," the redheaded pirate said, pinning the boy's hands away from his person.

"You're wasting your time." Allen said simply.

"Yer a challenge I have to overcome, anyone can be trained," the captain said, ignoring the other's words.

"You're wasting your time," the orphan repeated.

"Listen when I'm talking to ya, boy." Lavi snapped.

Allen jumped slightly but freed one of his hands from the other's grasp and placed it over the pirate's heart.

"Your heart….it's already melting. I think it would be best if you left me in the next port," the young orphan said.

"What are ya saying, lad?" the redhead asked, pulling back from the younger teen.

"I'm saying that you should leave me in the next port. I'll get out of your way then." Allen replied.

"There ain't nowhere for ya to go. What will ya do?" the pirate questioned.

"I'll figure it out," the orphan said.

"Ya should stay here, mate. Everyone here's just like ya. None of us have a home," the redheaded pirate said.

"I don't want your crew to think less of you because you have to protect me," the pale-haired teen said.

"I already offered that I would take care of ya and give ya a home on my ship. What kinda captain would I be if I couldn't take care of my crew?" Lavi said.

"I don't think it would be fair for the rest of your crew if you start to play favorites," the orphan interjected.

"Lad, yer the most fragile person I've ever seen. Yer worse than Lenalee. It wouldn't be fair to you if I broke ya completely, don't ya think?" the redhead said.

Allen tried to further argue with the pirate, but it led him nowhere. So for the time being it was decided that he would stay onboard the Black Rabbit. The redheaded captain left the boy as the sun rose, after he made sure that the orphan was taken care of. Allen soon started to venture the ship with fever and all, Timcanpy as usual keeping watch over his master. Drawn to the cargo hold the orphan staggered through the maze of crates and barrels, stumbling into the ship's supply of rum. Curiously he grabbed one of the bottles and opened it, this was the same stuff that Lavi had been drinking yesterday.

This is how Lavi later found the feverish orphan, sprawled on the floor by the rum crates with an empty bottle of rum besides him and Timcanpy flying circles around him. The redhead was stunned to find the boy in such a state, and knelt down besides the unconscious boy.

"What am I going to do with ya, Allen," the captain sighed.

The pirate picked up the pale-haired orphan into his arms and headed back to the younger's cabin, the ever watchful Timcanpy flying besides the captain. Nothing could of braced Lavi for a drunken Allen, once the redhead got the orphan to his cabin and in the bed, the younger teen partially came to. He was mumbling incomprehensible words, a sure sign to the pirate that the boy was drunk. What startled the captain the most was when Allen burst into a fit of tears.

"I guess I know what kind of drunk you are now." Lavi murmured as he took the crying orphan into his arms.

Allen burrowed closer to the pirate's body, sobs wracking his thin frame. The redheaded pirate received a second surpise when Lenalee burst into Allen's cabin followed by Krory and Kanda. It was silent for several moments except for the orphan's crying.

"Lavi, what's going on here?" Lenalee questioned.

"Allen's sick and it seems he got a fever during the night. I was looking after him since he didn't want Bookman to come. Found the lad earlier in the cargo hold, passed out drunk after drinking one of the bottles of rum," the redhead explained.

The girl walked over to them and placed a comforting hand on the young orphan's back, Allen whimpered at the contact. Krory also approached them and tried to take a peek at the boy's face. Kanda just made a disapproving noise and disappeared from the touching scene.

Both Lenalee and Krory went away on Lavi's bidding and he finally managed to get Allen to go to bed. He knew that the orphan wasn't asleep yet but chose not to bother him. Going about to make sure that his young crew mate was taken care of. He was about to leave when he noticed that the younger teen's makeshift head cover was very lopsided. Deciding to be a good sport and fix it, since Allen seemed to like wearing it a lot.

Untying the piece of cloth from the orphan's head to retie it properly, he received another stunning surprise. Lavi didn't know whether what he was seeing was an illusion or not, so he reached out to touch the soft velvet ears sprouting from the orphan's head. The ears felt really soft to the touch and very much real, covered by fine silvery white fur. The young orphan grumbled at the touch, face scrunching up and ears twitching slightly. The redhead's eye twitched visibly at the mysterious phenomenon he was witnessing. Suddenly he was met with a wide pair of silver irises and both teens froze in their spots.

"I-I…..Don't look at me!" Allen exclaimed hiding his head in his pillows.

"Allen…" the pirate captain murmured softly.

"No!" the orphan said.

"Lad." Lavi said in a more commanding tone.

"NO! Leave me alone! Don't look at me!" the pale-haired teen shouted.

A frown crossed the older teen's face and he gave a sigh as Allen lapsed into another crying fit. Unable to do anything else for the crying boy, the pirate left him to sleep out his drunkenness and went back to his duties. They were still quite a bit away from the nearest port, and with the slowness of the damaged ship Lavi was getting angrier by the minute.

The redhead's anger tired him out and he had to be dragged into his cabin and onto his bed by a few of his sailors. Lavi was the kind of captain that would keep working until he collapsed, more so when he was angry and it was often taxing on his health.

Sometime after midnight, two hours after he had passed out, he was suddenly awakened by the howl of a wolf and a disturbance in his cabin. Groaning softly he cracked open his eye, with much effort. Looking around he noted a random lit oil lamp floating by his bed and a strange silhouette, his vision was still a little fuzzy.

"Bloody hell!" the redheaded pirate exclaimed, grabbing his gun from under his pillow and pointing it at the fuzzy silhouette.

When his vision cleared he finally noticed that the strange silhouette was in fact Allen. He wasn't wearing his usual head covering so his furry wolf's ears were completely visible. The orphan had a serious look on his face as he set down the oil lamp on Lavi's nightstand.

"May I help ya?" the redhead asked cautiously, putting his gun away.

"Please…" Allen murmured, taking off the long coat he was wearing.

For a few moments the pirate completely misread the situation and was about to give a loud protest, but a fluffy silver-white tail appeared in his vision behind the teen.

"Please…" the younger begged again.

"What is it Allen?" the captain asked propping himself up on one elbow.

"Can you keep a secret?" the young orphan asked.

"Depends, what's in it for me?" Lavi replied.

"Please, Lavi! No one can know!" Allen said with a pleading look.

"Oh, alright mate," the redhead mumbled wearily.

"Thank you," the pale-haired teen said.

The pirate inspected the strange orphan for a moment and weighed his options. He decided to keep the boy's secret since it seemed to mean so much to him, if the look on his face was anything to go by. The young orphan suddenly collapsed onto the bed, startling the pirate captain. He reached out to touch the boy's forehead, but it seemed like his fever had broken at some point. The boy still looked sick and weak though, so Lavi didn't bother in taking the trouble to deposit the orphan in his own cabin. Allen gravitated towards the elder teen and snuggled up to the redhead, and that's how the two fell asleep without a care in the world. Both seeming to be too tired to care either way.

o~x~x~x~x~o

**A/N: **Hehe, there you have it folks, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I still find it funny how Lavi misjudges Allen's age in here. Cant wait for that shocker to hit that silly redhead.

Review my lovelies, they make the world go round.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **I finally got enough time to get this chapter out, sorry for making all of you wait, but here it is at last. It was a very enjoyable chapter to write.

Thanks to: **TheFireDragon**, **msdragonwings**, **fullmetal96100**, **EponineRin**, **MidnightAbyssx02**, **Shining-Neon-Skies**, **DGrayManFanatic**, **Blackies**, and **That Strange Blue Eyed Girl** also a shout out to all my silent readers.

Note: This chapter does include some strangeness lol, also keep in mind that Allen is an orphan and hasn't really had contact with people, which explains some things.

Onwards to the story!

Enjoy~

o~x~x~x~x~o

Allen woke up sometime in the early morning hours the sun wasn't even shinning yet, and looked pensively at the sleeping redhead he was snuggled against. The younger teen was very curious about the pirate, but he was still very tired to even bother over thinking. With a ghost of a smile on his lips, he snuggled closer to Lavi, burying his face in the other's chest. The pirate unconsciously wrapped an arm loosely around the orphan's waist.

_Is this what it feels like to be held by someone? It feels so…warm, _the young orphan thought as he sleepily closed his eyes, the redhead's scent lay comfortingly around him.

Allen soon fell asleep again in the warmth and comfort that was radiating from the captain at their closeness. Lavi woke up as the sun rose with the feeling of something soft and furry tickling his face. Cracking his eye open with a small groan, he looked around the cabin for the source of the feeling. His gaze fell on the orphan that was snuggled up to him, wolf ears brushing against the redhead's face.

"So it wasn't a dream," Lavi murmured to himself.

The younger teen stirred once the redhead had removed his arm from around the his waist. Allen blinked his eyes open and groggily looked around, meeting the redhead's gaze and jolted when he noticed that the elder teen was watching him. The orphan looked at the pirate and gave him a small smile, to which the captain responded to with a smile of his own. Still tired, the younger teen snuggled up to the pirate captain and heaved a sigh.

"Allen…" Lavi said softly.

The young orphan pulled back and looked at his companion with a blank look, softly placing a hand against the other's cheek. The redhead silently watched his younger companion, waiting to see what he would do. Allen gently caressed the pirate's cheek for a few moments, before he dropped his arm back onto the bed.

_I think I am falling, _the orphan thought.

Both males sat up on the bed and Lavi got up to go around the cabin. The pale-haired teen simply stayed sitting on the bed, looking dejectedly at the blankets on the bed. Ears dropping back against his skill like a puppy that has been kicked by its master. Timcanpy appeared suddenly out of nowhere and settled on Allen's head, between his flattened ears. A sudden onslaught of rouge emotions hit the poor orphan like a train wreck, and the boy collapsed back onto the bed. The sudden movement caused Timcanpy to take flight for a second before settling on the teen's hand. Sensing the younger's distress Lavi came to sit beside him on the bed.

"Ya feeling alright, lad?" the redhead asked, acting as if Allen being in his cabin with furry ears and tail was a completely normal event.

"I'm fine," the orphan replied, semi-coldly as he got up from the bed.

His sudden change in behavior surprised the pirate and he froze when the younger teen turned back to look at him. Something hidden and secretive smoldered behind those innocent silver irises.

"Remember our secret, Lavi. You can't tell anyone or I'll rip out your guts," the formerly gentle orphan spat, grabbing his coat from the floor and left an appalled redhead behind.

"That lad has some serious personality issues, but I guess I shouldn't be one to talk after all," the captain grumbled to himself as he headed out to the deck.

Lavi didn't see Allen again until they finally reached the port. As they were about to disembark, he spotted the orphan at the bow overlooking the town they had reached.

"Allen!" the redheaded pirate called out to the boy as he approached him.

At the sound of his name the young orphan turned around, a pleasant smile on his pale face.

"Are ya still planning on leaving?" the captain questioned.

"I think I'll stick around for a while, to see if you keep your word," the orphan replied.

"Would ya like to go with us to the town then?" the redhead asked.

Even though Allen had said he would go, Lavi still had to practically drag the orphan on shore after the boy had learned that Komui would be accompanying them.

"Yer making a scene!" the redhead exclaimed as he dragged the reluctant orphan by the collar of his clothing.

"Then stop dragging me!" the younger retorted.

They were indeed attracting the curious gazes of the inhabitants and tourists alike. The few people that had chosen to accompany them onto land shook their heads at the duo. Among them was Kanda, who was being sour as usual and contemplating why he was still with them.

"I didn't know that you were bringing Komui with us!" the younger teen exclaimed.

"I'm hurt Allen. Why do you still hold that grudge against me?" Komui questioned calmly.

"Because you practically ruined my life!" the pale-haired teen shouted, still trying to get away from Lavi's grasp.

Getting fed up with the ridiculous situation the redhead lifted the younger up off the ground, and with all his might threw the orphan against the unsuspecting Kanda. The younger's body slammed against that of the dark-haired pirate, and they both went tumbling down.

"Get offa me!" the Japanese teen hissed, and roughly shoved the youth off.

Allen ended up sprawled on the ground in a pathetic heap, groaning at the pain shooting through his body by the impact. With all eyes on him Lavi purposefully walked up to his young crewmate and looked down at the pathetic sight with indifference.

"On yer feet, lad," the redhead said in a commanding tone.

The pale-haired orphan raised his head to give the captain an innocent and wide eyed look.

"Yer embarrassing me, kid," the pirate barked.

Slowly the younger teen staggered to his feet, never looking away from the teen in front of him. Lavi gave a satisfied nod and a ghost of a smile appeared on his lips. The moment of accomplishment however was short lived when Timcanpy slammed into the side of the pirate's head. A howl of pain escaped the redhead's throat, and in an enrage fit tried to destroy the annoying golden orb with his hands. Timcanpy flew into the protective sanctuary of Allen's coat, and the pirate captain gave a glare to the infernal thing's master before walking away. The rest of the members that had tagged along followed their captain without sparing the orphan a second glance.

Dejected the younger teen lowered his head and went back to the ship; his tail which was hidden by his clothing was literally between his legs as he headed back to the Black Rabbit. He went up to the quarterdeck and leaned against the wooden railing, folding his arms and placing his chin on them. Timcanpy flew out of the orphan's coat and perched on his head. Despite knowing that Lavi was a ruthless, icy-hearted pirate, the other's words and actions still hurt him deeply.

_He threw me; he hurt me even when he said that I was fragile, he said I was embarrassing him in front of everyone._

Tears stung at his eyes and he let them flow freely down his cheeks as he stared down at the water lapping against the ship. None of the pirates still on the ship bothered him as he stared tearfully down at the water, tears still falling from his eyes. He stayed like that until he vaguely detected a familiar presence nearby, and felt a warm hand on his back. Slowly he turned to look at who had come and looked away immediately when he saw it was Lavi. The redhead gave a slight frown and he slipped a hand underneath the orphan's chin and turned the boy's face towards him. His expression softening at the sight of the other's tears.

"Why are ya crying, Allen?" the redheaded pirate asked.

"'Cause Komui, 'cause…you…'cause everything," the orphan replied.

"I don't know what the deal with ya and Komui is, but he ain't gonna hurt ya anymore, lad," the pirate said.

"It's partly his fault I'm a freak of nature, I hate him, I hate myself. I just want to…go somewhere far away," the younger teen said.

Lavi still didn't understand much of what the youth was going on about Komui being responsible for the extra parts in his appearance, but the orphan's attitude concerned him so he decided to change the topic towards himself.

"And what have I done to ya?" the captain asked.

"You hurt me; you said I embarrassed you…you…." Allen said softly, looking away from the redhead.

"I'm only trying to make ya stronger Allen, if anything I do hurts ya or offends ya I apologize, but ya concern me. I find it my duty to try and strengthen ya," the pirate captain said, taking the younger's face in both of his hands so the other couldn't escape his gaze.

"You don't have to go through all that trouble. I've survived for years on the streets,I'm still alive," the pale-haired teen said.

"Allen, there are worse people out there than me in the world. Ya can't expect just anyone to treat ya like I do, no matter how horrible they really are." Lavi said.

"You don't seem that terrible to me." Allen spoke.

"Because ya haven't seen the worst of me," the redhead responded.

The redheaded pirate's attention was suddenly diverted from the orphan to something in the direction of the dock. The orphan saw a deep frown cross the other's face, and the older teen didn't let go of his companion.

"What is it, Lavi?" the younger questioned.

"Looks like some rats have appeared," the other grumbled.

"What do you mean?" the pale-haired teen asked.

"Earlier after we caused the scene, I overheard a couple guys that had been there saying some inappropriate things about ya," the redheaded captain replied.

"What kind of things?" Allen asked.

"Yer naïveté amuses me, lad. They want to try and get in yer pants." Lavi said in an extremely blunt fashion.

The orphan froze in his spot as the words were being processed by his brain, and he flushed angrily. The expression on the other's face caused the pirate to start laughing. This in turn caused the younger's expression to morph into one of awe, he'd never hear the redhead laugh like that in his time aboard the ship. In the end the orphan ended up laughing alongside the captain, the pirate's laugh turning out to be contagious.

"C'mon Allen, let's go punish some people for saying such things," the pirate captain said.

"Why would we go punish people that haven't done anything wrong?" the pale-haired orphan asked.

"Lad, even if they haven't done anything yet doesn't mean that they won't try. Plus yer a minor, if someone tried to get in yer pants its considered rape," the pirate said.

"But still, no one has done anything to me yet. Plus I'm a guy and they're guys too." Allen said. **(A/N: Allen you're such a hypocrite with the I'm a guy they're guys thing XD)**

"People like that, gender doesn't matter to them," the captain said. "Let's go, Allen."

Lavi grabbed the orphan's wrist and led him away, shortly before they could get off the ship they were intercepted by Bookman.

"Where are the two of you sneaking off to?" the elderly man asked.

"Just wanna show the little lad something in the town," the redhead replied smoothly.

Bookman did not seem too convinced by his grandson's words, but decided to let it go for now. The pair then disembarked the ship and the redheaded pirate quickly scanned his surroundings. He quickly spotted two males loitering in the shade nearby his ship. Frowning he approached the suspicious men, the young orphan by his side grabbed onto his coat as he followed.

"Excuse me, may I help ya mates?" the captain asked.

"There's nothing we want from you pirate," one of the men replied.

"That's a little cutie you got there pirate, how much do you want for him?" the other man asked.

"None of my crew is for sale, I'd appreciate it if ya stopped trying to harass our little lad." Lavi said in a firm tone.

"And what are you going to do about it, pirate?" the first man asked.

Without warning the redhead ran forwards pulling the coat from Allen's grasp and roundhouse kicked one man, sending him flying. Turning he punched the other in the face, also sending him flying back. He then turned and walked away as if nothing had happened, and the young orphan scurried to catch up with the swift captain.

Once back aboard the Black Rabbit Allen excused himself from Lavi's presence and went to his cabin. The redhead silently watched the youngster walk off below deck.

_I'll pay him a visit later. _Lavi thought, going back to oversee the fixing of his ship.

Back in Allen's cabin the boy removed the rag from his head and took off his coat, shirt following the coat on the floor. He then went and flopped down on to the bed on his stomach. Timcanpy settled himself comfortable on the bed's headboard. The young orphan began to feel the aches and pain from when Lavi had thrown him into Kanda. Snuggling into his bed he decided that he should definitely take a nap. There was nothing for him to do, as he still wanted to avoid everyone on the ship. His nap however was cut short when knocking on his cabin door awoke him. Groggily he opened his eyes and glared in the direction of the door, snuggling deeper into his blanket.

"Who is it?" the orphan questioned.

"It's Lavi," came the reply.

"Come in." Allen replied after a pause of hesitance, snuggling even deeper into his blanket cocoon.

The door opened to reveal the redheaded captain, who happened to be missing his hat, bandana, coat and shirt.

"What do you want?" the younger teen questioned.

"Came to check up on ya," the redhead replied, as he closed the door behind him.

"Looking like that?" the young orphan asked, sitting up from his blanket cocoon.

"There were some issues up on deck that had to be resolved," the pirate said, walking over to the other.

Allen took this opportunity to examine the redhead's bare torso. Lavi was well built, endowed with muscles in all the right places. Looking at the other's body made him feel extremely lacking. The orphan himself had some muscles from his years on the streets, but compared to the redhead it was nothing.

"Ya aren't still mad at me are ya?" the redheaded pirate asked.

"I don't forgive that easily, Lavi," the young orphan said blankly.

The pirate looked over at the boy and studied him; the other defiantly looked back ears perked as if he was gearing for an attack. The captain then noted something about the younger that had completely escaped him. The teen's left arm was completely black with arrow like markings on his shoulder.

"Yer arm." Lavi murmured.

Appearing shocked Allen looked at his exposed left arm like as if it was something gross stuck to him. He'd completely forgotten about his arm and accidentally left it in the open. Quickly the young orphan buried himself back in his blanket cocoon.

"Leave! Don't look at me anymore!" Allen shouted, lapsing back into hysterics again.

o~x~x~x~x~o

**A/N: **There you have it, finally finished. I really really liked writing this chapter, I'm sure you'll notice how much fun I had XD.

A note for the next chapter, I decided to throw y'all a curve ball, I'm not saying anything further about it but, just watch out for it okay!

Review me lovelies, they make the word go 'round!


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **here's a lovely little update to you guys for the holidays. I love writing this story and I love the way Lavi's character is coming out in it. This chapter is one big curveball for you guys; this isn't just any old normal story.

Thanks to: **EponineRin, SoulEaterEvansFan, Aereosync, natabee, fullmetal96100** and ** BeastlyB** for your wonderful reviews, and a shout out to all my silent readers as well.

Onwards to the story!

Enjoy~

o~x~x~x~x~o

Unlike the last time Lavi did not leave the room at Allen's bidding. Instead he sat down on the edge of the bed, taking the boy's cocooned body into his arms. The orphan began to voice his protests as he looked up at the redhead.

"Ya don't have to hide anything from me lad. As yer captain ya can confide in me. I know how to keep secrets," the pirate said.

The younger teen wordlessly stared up at the redhead with wide, innocent eyes, seeming to be debating something in his mind. He rested his head against Lavi's bare chest, wolf ears picking up the sound of the other's heartbeat. The redheaded pirate looked down at the bundle in his arms, and rested his chin against the crown of the other's head.

"How long has it been since ya've had human interaction?" the captain questioned.

"I rarely ever had human contact, most that I've had were bad," the orphan replied.

"Then….I'll be yer big brother, savvy?" the pirate told the younger.

"Why? Didn't you say that it wasn't your job to look after me?" Allen protested.

"Looking at ya, how vulnerable ya are. There's something that makes me want to protect ya from danger." Lavi murmured.

The two stayed like that for a while in silence, no one seemed to really miss they're captain for now.

"Lavi, where is this ship headed?" the young orphan questioned.

"MoonDrop Island," the redhead replied flatly.

"That island? Why would you want to go there? There are rumors that the island is cursed and anyone who goes there never comes back. It is also said that going onto the island brings out the side of people no one has ever seen, it's dangerous Lavi!" the younger exclaimed in disbelief.

"There is also a rumor of the greatest treasure buried somewhere in that island," the pirate said.

"Isn't it a bit risky for just a rumored treasure? You can lose half your crew in that hellish island!" the orphan said.

"Lad, mine crew is far stronger than ya think," the captain said.

"But Lavi, this is reckless!" Allen said, a certain note of fright in his voice.

"Everyone can handle a little curse. Isn't that right, Allen?" Lavi said.

The orphan noticed the strange tone that the pirate's voice had taken, and gently pulled away from the older. Ridding himself of the blanket cocoon in the process. The younger inspected the older teen in silence, not really finding anything out of the ordinary. A small mischievous smile spread over the redhead's lips, causing the young orphan to back away slightly. However he wasn't expecting for the redheaded pirate to tackle him off the bed and onto the floor. The two teens began to wrestle each other on the floor, laughing the whole time until Lavi pinned Allen to the floor with his weight.

"L-Lavi! You're heavy!" the orphan groaned a protest.

The younger teen found himself pinned by the pirate's weight, his arms out in front of him being held down loosely by the captain's hands.

"Come on, lad. I know yer strong enough to handle my weight." Lavi spoke into the orphan's ear, causing the furry appendage twitch.

"Lavi…" Allen murmured.

The young orphan tried to flip around and much to his momentary relief, the redhead allowed it. Once he flipped the redheaded pirate pinned him down again, straddling the younger as he pinned his arms over his head. The orphan noticed a strange look on the other's face and gave a frown. Before Allen could even react, a sharp pain bit into his shoulder and his eyes widened. Gaze traveling to the knife now embedded in his shoulder, before those silver irises turned to look at his companion. He could feel a darkness emanating from the older teen, and that previously bright emerald iris was shrouded in darkness.

"L-L-Lavi?" Allen gasped, trying to get away from the pirate.

The darkness disappeared from his eye upon hearing his name being called and he immediately backed away from the orphan, placing a shaking hand over his face as he glimpsed at the other. The redhead slowly lowered his hand from his face and the darkness returned, worrying the younger. The pale-haired teen watched his older companion carefully, but he still couldn't fend the other off when the pirate lunged at him again. The captain took to giving the knife still embedded in the other's shoulder a sharp twist, drawing a strangled sound from the teen below him. Allen decided to be brave and try to snap Lavi out of whatever madness had come over him and wrapped his shaking arms around the redhead's neck, pulling the other closer until the pirate's face was buried in his pale neck.

They both stayed like that until the orphan deemed it safe to let his companion go. Timcanpy was being unusually docile and Allen found it strange that the little thing wasn't attacking the redhead. Lavi slowly lifted himself up from the younger, emerald iris wide and devoid of any of the darkness that had been there moments ago.

"I-I'm so sorry, Allen," the redhead stammered, helping the orphan to his feet and to the bed.

"Are you feeling alright, Lavi?" Allen asked nonchalantly.

The pirate went about binding the other's wound nice and tight, not having anything to disinfect the wound with as of now, Allen watched him as he did. It's not that he was scared of the redhead, but he was frightened by the sudden behavioral change. The redheaded pirate settled on the bed, and the young orphan, who had been sitting up, took him into his arms. Letting the captain's head rest against his bare chest.

"Lavi, do you have personality issues?" Allen asked as he ran his hand through the redhead's locks.

"No, it's a bit more complicated than that," came a delayed reply.

"How so?" the orphan pursued.

"Drop it, Allen. I ain't going to discuss this any further."Lavi said.

"But, why?" the younger questioned.

"Because I said so, Allen. We all have our skeletons in the closet," the redhead growled.

The younger teen remained silent for a while, pensively stroking the pirate's soft yet wild locks.

"Why is it that you want to go to MoonDrop Island? That place is like hell, even the nativity there is hellish," the young orphan said.

"Yer a very smart lad, aren't ya?" Lavi chuckled.

"Lavi." Allen said firmly.

"For treasure, Allen. I don't mind going into a wee little cursed island like that," the redhead replied.

"But, what about your crew? You can't honestly be thinking of letting them set foot there. What about you, isn't there something important to you out here? You don't have to risk your life like that," the orphan persisted.

"I give ya points in persistence lad. Of course the crew ain't gonna set foot on the damned island. They're staying on the ship and I'm going alone. As for the other question, no I don't have anything that's important to me, treasure's my life kid," the pirate captain responded.

Allen remained silent as he did not want to further pry into the captain's business. Instead he though it better to break the silence by humming a low tune. So he gently hummed a strange tune as he ran his hands through Lavi's hair. The repetitive movements and sound of his own humming made the orphan feel very sleepy. He stopped humming but still ran his hands through Lavi's hair, eyes slowly closing.

A movement from the redhead he was holding caused his eyes to slowly open, feeling something warm and mildly wet being pressed against the right side of his chest. A burning sensation ran through his body drawing whines and whimpers from him. The pirate suddenly changed their positions and rested the orphan's head on his lap. Allen looked innocently up at Lavi, who gave a small yet sad smile s he placed his hand on the younger's chest.

"Did you do something?" the orphan asked.

"Just something to keep ya safe when we go to the island," the redhead replied.

"We?" the younger questioned.

"I've decided that since we're both keepin' secrets, that it'd be best for us to go together. Besides we can cover more land between the two of us," the pirate explained.

"But, the island...it's cursed." Allen protested.

"Not to worry lad. I just gave ya something that will keep us from turnin' on each other. That's why no one else can come, because no one else here has that charm," the captain explained.

"But why me? Why not Kanda or any of the others?" the pale-haired teen asked.

"Well, because we both have secrets and…well I don't know," the redheaded pirate replied.

The orphan looked at Lavi with a semi shocked expression and he rose from his "pillow" and walked over to the mirror in the room. Looking at the mark that the redhead has mysteriously left behind. He touched the mark which consisted of two flaming snakes crossed into an X shape. The captain walked up behind the youth and placed gentle hands on his shoulders.

"How long until we get to MoonDrop Island?" the younger question.

"A few days, mate," the redhead replied.

The pirate wordlessly wrapped his arms around Allen, resting his chin atop the younger's head.

"Lavi? Is there something the matter?" the orphan asked cautiously.

After the redhead's strange display of violence directed at him, he didn't want to take any chances of the pirate stabbing him again. After all his shoulder was still throbbing madly.

"Everythin' is alright." Lavi murmured.

The pale-haired teen reached back and touched the other's forehead, satisfied when he found that the pirate didn't have a fever.

"I ain't sick, little lad," the redhead told him.

Carefully Allen pulled away from his companion and turned to face him, the serious look on the other's face caused the captain to laugh. Scratching one of the orphan's wolf ears like one would to a dog. Subconsciously the younger's fluffy tail began to gently wag side to side, ear twitching at the touch.

"Lavi, do you think I made a mistake?" the younger teen asked.

"Whaddya mean?" Lavi replied with a frown.

"By coming on this ship," Allen said.

"Don't be silly lad," the redhead replied.

The young orphan sat down on the floor of the cabin, with a pensive look. Slowly the older teen crouched in front of the younger, staring fixedly at him. The orphan raised his gaze to the pirate, and a small blush dusted his cheeks when he found the captain looking at him and quickly looked away with lowered ears.

"Lavi?" Allen asked in a small voice.

"Aye?" the redheaded pirate replied.

"Just...what are you?" came the soft question.

"Just a pirate captain aboard his ship, looking for treasure." Lavi said simply.

"Lavi, that's not what I meant," The orphan frowned.

"Allen don't force me, I already told ya that I didn't want to talk about it. I'm just as human as ya or anyone else on this ship," the redhead said.

The younger teen raised himself on his knees and wrapped his arms around the pirate's neck in a hug, tail gently wagging.

"Yer like a puppy aren't ya?" the captain chuckled.

"Shouldn't you be on deck, Mr. Captain?" Allen questioned as he pulled away.

"What about ya? Wont ya come up?" the captain questioned.

"With your permission I think I'd like to stay here for a while," the other murmured.

"Ya don't need to be scared lad." Lavi said.

"I'm not scared; I just want to be alone for a while. I'm tired and I did just get stabbed," the orphan responded wearily.

The redhead sadly ruffled the younger's hair as he stood up from his crouched position. The younger teen watched the captain leave his cabin with innocent eyes. Once the redhead was out of sight the now exhausted Allen went to burrow under his covers, the wound on his shoulder pulsing with every heartbeat.

_At least it isn't like that one time I had that small infection_

The orphan sleepily hid himself under the covers with Timcanpy as he decided to sleep the pain away. Allen was awoken by a touch on his uninjured shoulder and a groggy groan escaped his throat. Slowly he opened his eyes and looked in the direction of the touch, surprised to see Lavi with an oil lamp and other items.

"Lavi?" the orphan questioned, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he sat up," What are you doing here?"

"I was worried about yer wound, since I didn't disinfect it right away," the redhead replied.

"Its fine, Lavi," the younger brushed the matter off.

"Do ya want to risk infection?" the pirate asked.

"I can't say that feeling is enjoyable," the young orphan replied.

"I remembered an old pirate remedy that might help." Lavi said, as placed the oil lamp on a hook and sat on the bed.

Allen found himself without much choice and sat in a way that his injured shoulder was facing the pirate. The redhead set the items he had brought on the bed, and undid the bandages on the younger's shoulder. The captain inspected the wound and became worried when he saw that it was still slowly bleeding. Placing a piece of cloth down by the pillows and told the orphan to lie down. Hesitantly the younger did as he was told, and Lavi made sure that the other's shoulder was on top of the cloth.

"Open up." Lavi said.

"What?"

The redhead took the moment that Allen's moth opened to stuff a piece of cloth into the boy's mouth.

"It's alright lad," the pirate said calmly once the orphan began to freak out.

The older teen used his arms and legs to secure the younger's limbs down, grabbing the bottle of rum he had brought and took the cork out with his teeth. Allen watched his companion with wide silver eyes as Timcanpy perched on the redhead's hair. The frightened and confused orphan let out a low whine that was muffled by the cloth in his mouth.

"Hey it's alright, Allen. I'm just going to disinfect the wound," the captain said softly.

The young orphan gave the other a blank look to which Lavi gave a tiny smile. Concentrating back on the stab wound marring the boy's shoulder, the redhead poured some of the rum onto the wound. The effect was almost instantaneous and the pirate had to hold the younger teen down, muffled screams filling the cabin. He poured a bit more rum on the wound to make sure that it was thoroughly disinfected; it caused Allen's back to arch at the pain. The redhead waited until the orphan had calmed down to bind the wound in fresh bandages. Once he took the cloth from the other's mouth and tossed it aside along with placing the rum bottle on the nightstand, the boy's breathing came out in still pained gasps.

Lavi folded his arms above Allen's head and rested his forehead on them, body still looming over that of the orphan's. The younger teen's eyes slowly opened and he looked up at the captain, eyes shiny with unshed tears.

"I hate you…Lavi," the younger orphan whispered, tears falling from his eyes.

"That's okay," the redheaded pirate said sadly, wiping a few tears away.

"No…it's not okay." Allen said.

"Make up yer mind lad. Ya either hate me or ya don't," the redhead said.

The orphan flushed and turned his head to the side, making the pirate above him chuckle. The other's closeness and warmth was starting to get to him and he exhaled a shaky sigh.

"As yer big brother I'm entitled to do things for yer wellbeing that may or may not make ya hate me." Lavi spoke.

"Since when are you my big brother?" the pale-haired teen questioned softly.

"Since I said I was," the redhead replied.

Allen looked back up at the older teen, the pirate didn't seem that much older than him and it brought a question into his mind. He knew that Bookman was Lavi's grandfather because of the way the redhead talked about him, but other than that the captain never said anything about having parents or any other relative.

"Lavi?" the orphan asked.

"Aye?" the pirate replied.

"There's something that's been bugging me," the younger teen said.

"Well, what is it lad?" the captain questioned, slightly annoyed.

"You can't be much older than me, but where are _your _parents?" Allen asked.

Lavi's expression went blank and the pirate remained silent for a long while. This sudden silence worried the orphan and he felt that he'd overstepped and invisible boundary.

"I-I'm sorry Lavi, did I overstep a boundary? Y-You can punish me if you like," the young orphan said.

"I appreciate yer permission to let me punish ya, but I wouldn't want to punish ya for no good reason. I will keep that in mind for future reference though," the redheaded captain said.

"D-Don't be weird," the younger teen said.

A small smile came over the pirate's face and he moved slightly, bringing an arm from its folded position so he could touch the other's cheek.

"I'm blessed to have such an adorable little brother," the captain said.

"You're dodging the subject Lavi, or is it not a good topic?" Allen said, blushing lightly at the other's comment.

"No, no yer fine." Lavi replied.

"So?" the orphan asked expectantly.

"My, my ya sure are brave enough to pry into other people's affairs, Mr. Scaredy Cat," the redhead said with an amused chuckle.

"Y-You don't have to answer," the younger said, less confidently.

"I know, but I think I will," the pirate said, running a finger over the mysterious red mark on the other's face.

Allen didn't know whether to be afraid of any motive the captain had or not. The older teen had already stabbed him, and he wasn't sure how unpredictable the other could be.

"My parents…they were murdered in a raid by pirates." Lavi spoke in low tones.

The orphan's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates at the information that the redhead had just given him.

"Yet you're a pirate yourself," the youth whispered.

"I was kidnapped after the attack and raised as a pirate," the redhead told him.

"How old were you?" the pale-haired teen asked.

"Around six years old," the other replied.

"Don't you hate pirates?" the younger teen asked.

"Aye."

"Does that mean that you hate yourself?"

"In a way…"

"If you hate pirates, the why did you pick me up off the streets?"

"What does that have to do with anything? Yer not a pirate." Lavi said with a frown.

"Answer the question." Allen said.

"Listen, Allen I didn't pick ya up off the streets so ya could become a pirate. I did lie to ya, I never once believed that ya could truly be part of mine crew," the redhead said calmly running two fingers over the youth's cheek bone, making the teen below him shudder slightly.

"W-What are you saying? Then why did you bring me with you in the first place?!" the orphan shouted with shock and disbelief.

"Because, I wanted to give ya a home and a family. I guess I saw a bit of myself in ya from when I was younger and wanted to help. I won't train ya as a pirate like I was however," the older teen replied, moving to place his forehead against Allen's.

The orphan looked up at Lavi with blank eyes as their breaths mingled together between them. He was confused, hurt, angry and somewhat touched. Someone who had previously been a stranger to him had been thoughtful enough to think about the wellbeing of a young, homeless orphan when no one else did. A stranger who turned out to be a reliable friend, even though said friend was completely unpredictable. Allen was both hurt and angry because Lavi had lied to him about why he was on this ship.

"Lavi… I'm I really worth something to this ship?" the orphan asked in a dejected tone.

"Of course ya are, Allen," the redhead replied.

_Ya will grow on everyone's hearts in this ship, but ya can also be the downfall of mine ship. I won't let ya destroy this ship, Allen. Not after I've worked so hard to build its reputation. I will absolutely not let ya take it away from me, even if I have to keep ya by my side so ya can't._

o~x~x~x~x~o

**A/N: **there you have it folks, I hope you enjoyed this chapter….I want to say so many things about this chapter but I will let you enjoy it without a lot of chatter. Also since I can't resist in adding Tyki to my stories…he will be in here…I promise you.

Review mine lovelies, they make my day 3


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: **I think this chapter is overdue, as I usually put up updates pretty quickly. Anyway, I did enjoy writing this chapter it was fun to do. I couldn't resist but to add Tyki to this story so he will be in here.

Thanks to: **Death-Sama01, SoulEaterEvansFan **and **Lingering**** Sorrow **for your lovely reviews, and a shout out to all my silent readers.

Warning: I do apologize in advance for Lavi's perverted behavior in this chapter.

Onwards to the story!

Enjoy~

o~x~x~x~x~o

Lavi moved from on top of Allen, reaching for the rum bottle as he rose to a sitting position. The orphan looked at him quizzically and sat up as well. The younger teen was getting vibes from the other that he didn't really like, but he couldn't be sure of what they meant. With watchful and semi frightened silver eyes, he followed the redhead's movements as he drank his rum. Carefully reaching out he took the bottle from the pirate, took a sip and gave it back.

"Ya sneaky lil' rat," the captain laughed after getting over his initial shock.

Allen smiled sheepishly at his companion and watched the other finish the bottle of rum.

"Say Allen, How'd ya like to spend the rest of the night at the helm with me?" Lavi asked.

"Why?" the young orphan asked suspiciously.

"C'mon lad. It'll be fun," the redhead said.

Allen looked pensively at the pirate and finally gave a sigh of surrender and moved off the bed to get properly dressed, tying his rag over his wolf ears. The duo then made their way up on the deck and the redhead dismissed the pirate that had been keeping watch. The orphan mostly spent his time against the railing, watching the stars or playing with Timcanpy. Lavi paid no heed to the orphan as he steered the ship through the gloom of the night, path lighted by the light of the moon. The pale-haired teen, who had been watching the sky, noted a small black shape flying fast towards them. Subconsciously he reached an arm out, and was startled when a raven perched on his arm. It seemed to be inspecting him and its surrounding with its beady little eyes, as Timcanpy curiously flapped around the bird.

"Lavi?" Allen called out.

"What is it lad?" Lavi replied.

"Are ravens common around here?" the orphan asked.

"Ravens? Allen we're in the middle of the ocean," the redhead said.

The younger teen walked over to the pirate, the raven not budging from its perch on his arm.

"See, I have a raven right here," the young orphan said innocently.

The captain turned his head and in the dim light casted by both an oil lamp and the moon, the younger saw the other's emerald iris widen.

"Allen, get away from that bird!" Lavi exclaimed.

The panic in the redheaded pirate's voice made a deep pang of anxiety flit through his body, and with the help of Timcanpy he tried to shake the bird away. It wasn't until the captain shot at the bird that the raven flew away, leaving a petrified Allen behind.

"W-What the hell was that!" the orphan exclaimed.

"A bad omen…what the hell is he doing around here?" the redhead growled.

"Who?" the younger teen asked, when he got over the shock of almost being shot.

"Tyki 'n his crew. The crew of The Ark, our rivals, but…mine ship is still bigger than his," the pirate replied, almost sounding as if he was gloating.

Lavi fell silent and he continued to steer the ship towards MoonDrop Island, troubled by the appearance of the raven. The young orphan walked over to the silent captain and placed a hand over his. The redhead looked over at his younger companion, a questioning look crossing his face.

"Who exactly is this Tyki person?" Allen asked curiously.

"He used to be on the same ship I ended up in when the pirates took me from mine home. After the ship went down, he disappeared and I haven't really seen 'im since then, and when I do see 'im, he's always after mine blood," the redhead explained.

The orphan nodded silently and stared off into the dark horizon, mulling over the new information that the captain had given him

"Lavi?" the younger teen asked again.

"Aye?" the pirate replied, with a slight hint of annoyance.

"Is Tyki a bad person?" the pale-haired teen questioned.

"Aye, worse than all pirates combined," the redheaded pirate answered.

Silence crept upon them and they stared off into the darkened horizon, soon Allen went off to stand by the railing, looking down at the dark waters with Timcanpy perched on his head. Suddenly something bumped hard into the great ship, and the Black Rabbit tilted sideways violently almost flipping over.

"Bloody hell?!" Lavi exclaimed as the orphan let out a surprised yelp.

The redhead captain rushed over to where the younger teen was and peered down at the dark waters. A large frilled dorsal fin rose above the waters, rocking the ship slightly. Lavi and Allen looked at each other for a moment before looking back down at the disturbed water.

"What in the world was that?" the redhead asked aloud.

"I'm not sure, could it be because we're close to MoonDrop Island?" the orphan said, unsure of the situation himself.

"We're still a few days away from there," the pirate protested.

"I told you that place is evil," the young orphan replied.

"I know, I know….definitely know," the captain muttered.

Not another word was passed between them, because whatever had been bumping the ship showed its face. Said thing was a huge serpentine creature that was staring at them through slit pupils, clawed appendages grabbing onto the ship's railing. They seemed to be locked into a kind of staring contest, the serpent creature staring hungrily at them and the two teens just staring back at it in shock. The creature suddenly opened its maw and let loose a terrible roar. Both teens burst into screams, one less manly than the other, as they clung to each other. The captain opened fire on the great serpent, but it only served to make it angrier. The terrible serpent snapped the frightened Allen off the deck of the ship with its great maw.

"ALLEN!" Lavi yelled.

Kanda made his appearance by his captain's side holding a harpoon, seeming to have been awoken by the ruckus and not one bit happy. His unbound hair flowed in the breeze as he hastily aimed the harpoon at the creature attacking the ship. The hit was well aimed and it struck the serpent in the eye, making it roar and disappear into the depths. The redheaded captain was already stripping down to his trousers, diving off the railing to plunge into the frigid waters. It took the redhead a while to find the boy, taking the unconscious orphan into his arms when he found him. The water was a tad too cold to stay in for long, else they risked getting sick.

The annoyed raven-haired pirate had to help get both of them back on board, since no one else had come to see what the ruckus was all about. Kanda was pretty sure that most of them had raided the rum supply and got drunk, and that Lavi would throw a hissy fit once he found out.

"Y-Yuu, t-take care of things o-out here," the redhead said through chattering teeth.

The Japanese teen gave a grunt and shooed the captain to his cabin, to which the redhead gave a grateful look as he disappeared into his cabin. Lavi looked at the shivering bundle in his arms, much to his relief the boy was still breathing. With a completely indifferent face he stripped the shivering teen out of his soaked clothing, then bundled him up in some of his clothes. Which turned out to be too big for the frail young teen. Lavi himself changed into warm clothes after setting Allen down on his bed.

Settling down besides the orphan, he pulled the unconscious and still shivering teen closer to his body. Timcanpy settled on the bed with them, watching over the two shaking teens while they slept. When Lavi opened his eye again, he came face to face with Timcanpy. Groaning groggily he swatted the little thing away from him. Tim flew small circles around Lavi's head, before settling down on his face. With a growl he swatted the pestering little thing away again.

"I think it wants ya to get up, rabbit." Kanda spoke.

"Y-Yuu?!" the redhead exclaimed in shock.

The captain silently sat up on the bed so he didn't wake the orphan up, who was hidden underneath the blankets. He was mildly surprised by Kanda's appearance in his cabin.

"Listen, I don't care what goes on between ya and the kid, just don't include me. I want nothing to do with this savvy? Now get yer behind up on deck ya lazy bum," the raven-haired pirate growled.

"I'll be along soon, keep yer voice down," the pirate hissed.

"Tch." Kanda turned to leave, annoyance written all over his face as he left.

Lavi gently pulled the blanket from the over the orphan's head, and looked down at the angelic sleeping face. He almost didn't want to wake the younger teen, but he was sure Kanda was going to skin him if he didn't show soon.

"Allen, c'mon little mate. Time to rise 'n shine," the redhead said in a soft tone, shaking the younger.

The young orphan did not budge or open his eyes and the pirate wasn't sure whether or to be worried about the other or not. Allen hadn't woken up since he'd saved him from the waters, the boy didn't seem to be injured or anything and was still breathing.

"Allen, c'mon lad," the captain said, gently patting the other's cheeks in an attempt to rouse him.

Timcanpy attempted to bite the pirate's fingers as he kept patting the orphan's cheeks. Allen groaned in discomfort and his eyes cracked open. Lavi looked relieved to see the younger awake at last.

"Nngh…Lavi?" the orphan groaned, trying to burrow back into the sheets.

"None of that mate. It's good to finally see ya awake." Lavi said.

"W-What happened?" Allen asked sleepily.

"Basically ya almost got eaten by a giant serpent beast, then Yuu harpooned it in the eye and it went off somewhere, then I went in and saved ya from the ocean," the redhead explained cheerfully.

The young orphan took a moment to drink the information in as he sat up on the other's bed. He noticed that the clothes he was wearing weren't his, and smelled of Lavi's peculiar scent.

"Uhm, Lavi? Why am I wearing your clothes?" the younger teen asked uncertainly.

"It was damned cold, the water. I wasn't gonna go to yer cabin just for clothes. I could of very well left yer little bum to freeze in that water," the captain said.

"You're not very nice sometimes, you know that?" Allen deadpanned.

"'Course I know that mate. I don't mean to be nice," the redheaded pirate said.

"Somehow I don't believe that," he orphan murmured.

"Shut yer trap and go change, I want mine clothes back. I want ya up on deck right after." Lavi said with a tone of authority.

The pale–haired teen looked warily at his captain and loosed a weary sigh. Truth to be told he was in no mood to be awake and he didn't trust himself to go back on deck after stopping at his cabin. The redhead's gaze softened at the signs of turmoil on the other's face, and laid his hand against the younger's knee. The younger teen looked down at the hand on his knees, gaze rising back to the redheaded pirate. His eye twitched slightly and he suddenly tackled the unsuspecting redhead, sitting on the other's stomach. He knew that he wasn't strong enough to hold the other down, but he was enjoying this while it lasted. Lavi looked shocked at the orphan's bold actions, but decided to allow it for now. The young orphan looked down at the trapped redhead and gave a small smile, twitching slightly when the other laid hands on his sides.

"Ya feeling alright there lad?" the captain asked.

Allen replied in a series of low whines, his ears flattening as he fell sideways.

"Allen, what is it?" Lavi asked as he sat up.

The young orphan peered over at his companion and pointed to his torso. Frowning the redhead took a hold of the fabric of the shirt and lifted it up.

"My god, Allen," the captain murmured.

A giant black and blue bruise was forming over his pale skin, and the pirate ran a finger over the bruise. Grimacing the orphan grabbed the older teen's hand.

"I know it hurts mate, but I want to check something," the redhead pirate said.

Allen released the other's hand and Lavi felt at the bruised spot, watching the orphan grimace and squirm.

"Ya got no broken ribs, but I'd be careful if I was ya," the redhead told him.

"Okay," the younger teen nodded.

The young orphan became silent as he absently thought about things, until one thing came to the forefront of his mind.

"Hey, Lavi…?" the pale-haired teen asked in a small voice.

"What is it, Allen?" the captain replied, starting to get annoyed with all the questions.

"If you changed my clothes, then does that mean…?" Allen trailed off.

Lavi gave the boy a pointed look that seemed to ask if the kid was alright in the head. The answer seemed so obvious that it almost sounded stupid to ask such a question.

"Y-You saw me….O-Oh my god," the orphan began to panic, looking very flustered.

"Whoa there, calm down lad! It's not like I did anything to ya," the redhead said calmly.

"B-But…y-you…" the young orphan trailed off again.

"Relax, stuff like that doesn't bother me. I can tell ya right now that I've seen at least a handful of people on this ship stark naked at least once. Even Lenalee and Yuu. Although neither of those encounters boded well for me," the pirate explained in a very calm and soothing tone.

"Kanda?" the younger teen questioned curiously.

"Unfortunately….I do have to say that ya ain't got nothing to envy from that guy. Ya should be proud of what ya have," the older teen said with a chuckle.

"D-Don't say such weird things," the orphan said blushing madly, causing the pirate to laugh loudly.

Grumpily Allen sat up on the bed, puffing his cheeks as he looked away from his companion. The older teen silently touched the younger's ears, rubbing the furry appendages lightly. This caused the orphan to go into a stupor; Lavi took a hand from one ear and softly started rubbing the boy's tail. A strangled noise escaped Allen's lips, his face was flushed and eyes half-lidded in a strange stupor.

"S-Stop it, L-Lavi," the orphan stammered.

"Oh? What's this? Yer awfully red, Allen," the redhead teased.

"Quit it!" the younger teen snapped.

The pirate drew his hands back and looked passively at the young orphan. However the pale-haired teen noticed something odd about the redheaded pirate. Allen looked nervously at his companion as the redheaded pirate approached him. The older teen pinned the orphan to the bed and leaned close to the other's fuzzy ears. The young orphan shuddered and tried to get away from the captain.

"Yer so adorable, I could just eat ya up." Lavi whispered into the younger's ears.

"Y-You're being weird again!" Allen exclaimed.

The orphan struggled against the redhead, once he found an opening the pale-haired teen slapped the redhead and ran away from the pirate. Disappearing from the room all together with Timcanpy worriedly following his master.

"Damn it," the captain grumbled once he came back to his senses.

Allen hid on the deck among the working sailors and out of Lavi's sight. Timcanpy too stayed out of sight, hidden in his master's clothing for if the captain saw Tim it would lead him straight to the orphan. The redheaded pirate was becoming insufferable the closer they came to the island. The young orphan wasn't completely sure if it had anything to do with the island since no one else was behaving any different. He thought it a possibility for it to have something to do with that Tyki person, since the captain's behavior had worsened since the raven showed up.

_Can I really go onto that island with this guy? _Allen thought with dejection, as he didn't look forward to that part of the trip.

Speaking of which, the island was almost upon them as the captain had decided to push the ship to its limits. The orphan peered out from the hiding spot he'd been in since Lavi had started acting weird. Peeking over the railing, he spotted the island fast approaching in the horizon.

"What are ya doing sprout?" Kanda spoke suddenly.

The older pirate's sudden appearance almost gave the orphan a heart attack, and it took him several moments to answer.

"H-Hiding," the younger said in a quiet tone.

"From what?" the raven-haired pirate questioned.

"Our psychotic captain," the young orphan replied, sliding back into his hiding spot.

Before Kanda could even attempt to answer to Allen's idiocy, the voice of their captain suddenly silenced them all. Each of them expectantly looking at the redhead for further instructions, others like Allen sided with fear on the current matter.

"Mates! Yer all about to set yer gaze upon MoonDrop Island! Enjoy he view while ya can, we'll be stopping the ship soon." Lavi's powerful voice boomed through the air.

Every crew member became unsure of what their captain's motives were. All knowing the rumor about the cursed island, murmurs ran through the crew. Kanda on the other hand was currently deciding won how to painfully skin the idiotic captain. Irritation running through his veins as he marched up to the quarterdeck to yell in the redhead's ear. Allen of course remained hidden through all of this, not wanting the redheaded pirate to find him. However his hopes were crushed when Lavi finally found him with the help of the traitorous Kanda.

o~x~x~x~x~o

**A/N: **I was in tears from laughter while writing the whole naked thing and the perverted Lavi thing. I found it extremely funny for some reason. So yeah Tyki is gonna be his evil self as usual…that why I love him XD

Review mine lovelies….it makes my day and motivates me 3


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: **here is another update for you guys. I rather enjoyed writing this chapter it was very fun, also Tyki's in this chapter.

Thanks to: **EponineRin, Lavi the Ninja Panda, Magicsinger, fullmetal96100, Guest**** , ****LunaWalkler **and **Beastly ****B** for your ever so lovely reviews, and a thank you to all my silent readers.

Warnings: None as of now.

Onwards to the story!

Enjoy~

o~x~x~x~x~o

Allen found himself sitting in a rowboat with Lavi; he'd been dragged into this ridiculous mission after all. The redhead has announced that he would be taking the orphan with him when the ship stopped. Everyone had been surprised but none of them complained, as they were glad that it wasn't them. The young orphan stared dejectedly at the wooden boards of the small boat, ears often turning toward unknown sounds. The redheaded pirate had made him lose the clothing that hid his ears and tail, once they had gotten far enough from the ship.

"Listen lad, I'm sorry if I did anything to offend ya, but now ain't the time to be mad at each other. It could mean our demise if there's strife between us," the pirate broke the silence in a low, friendly tone.

"I'm not mad or offended. It's just that you've been acting stranger than usual and it scares me," the younger teen replied.

"I never meant any ill intent towards ya. I'm sorry if I did anything to hurt ya," the captain said.

The honesty in Lavi's tone surprised the younger and his eyes widened slightly, but a smile graced his lips.

"We'll get through this…I hope." Allen murmured, looking towards the ominous island.

"Hope so," the redhead said.

"Why are you saying it that way? Weren't you so confident a moment ago?" the orphan questioned.

"It's yer fault anyway," the ´pirate said blankly.

"How is it my fault?!" the younger teen snapped.

"Dunno, now shut up for a while," the redheaded pirate said.

"You…!" the young orphan said angrily.

"Allen, when the captain gives ya an order, ya follow it," the pirate captain said with a slight hint of irritation.

"Fine, but I have a question," the pale-haired teen said.

"What is it?" Lavi asked, staring ahead at the island.

"Why is it that you want to go to that island so badly? Is there something there that's so important to you?" Allen asked.

The redhead let out a sigh and all remained silent, only the sounds of the ocean broke the calm silence.

"The curse on the island affects people based on their willpower. I can tell right now that you'll be the first to be affected by it the further we go," the pirate said calmly.

"You sound like you've been here before," the orphan said, suspicious of the other.

"So what if I have? This island wasn't always cursed, it's been that way to keep me from mine treasure," the captain explained.

"Your treasure?" the younger teen questioned, clearly confused.

"Aye, the treasure on this island ain't just a rumor. I actually belongs to me, but that rat Tyki took it from me. That's how this island came to be cursed," the redheaded pirate said.

"I see, so what the point of me coming along?" the younger teen asked.

"I wanted some company, and Tyki does have a like for cute things although I didn't the whole curse thing through." Lavi said sheepishly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Allen asked, semi offended by those words.

"You'll see soon enough," the redhead replied.

The orphan stayed silent until their little boat landed on the shores of the island. The younger watched the pirate carefully as they pulled the boat fully onto the sand, so the waters wouldn't sweep the boat away. The young orphan looked around the area, the curse weighed heavily on the lone island causing an eerie darkness to be permanently settled over the land.

"No matter what, we're in this together." The older teen said, and they ventured forth into the creepy island.

"Lavi, I'm scared," the pale-haired teen said, drawing closer to the captain.

Lavi stopped them and turned, lowering himself to Allen's eye level and grasped the boy's face with both hands.

"With me as yer fearless leader, there ain't nothing to be afraid of," the redhead said, continuing onwards.

The further they ventured into the silent island the funnier the orphan felt; at some point he couldn't take the feeling any longer and stopped all together. The pirate in the lead stopped walking once he sensed that the younger wasn't following him and turned.

"What is it lad?" the captain questioned, although he had his suspicions.

"I feel funny Lavi. I don't think I can keep going," the younger teen said.

"Just a bit longer Allen. I know that ya have more willpower than this." Lavi said, pulling the young orphan along.

They went even further towards the heart of the island before Allen collapsed onto his knees, a distressed look on his pale face. The redhead kneeled down by the orphan, looking him over. The pirate himself did not look a hundred percent anymore.

"Ya've done better than I expected, but it seems that ya've reached yer limit. Just give in now lad," the redheaded pirate said.

"No, I can go further," the young orphan said trying to stagger to his feet.

"I won't be mad if ya give in lad, yer not the only one being affected by the curse right now," the captain said, keeping the other on his knees.

The younger teen gave a small sigh and did just as his companion said and gave in, knowing very well that this was a battle he couldn't win. By the looks of things the redheaded captain was also starting to lose the battle. The change happened before his eyes as the curse forced Allen to reveal his hidden secret. Lavi inspected the being before him with slight awe, for instead of Allen in his place was a snowy-white wolf with silver flecks adorning his pelt. The red mark on his face was still there and his left forepaw was black with arrow markings at the shoulder, the charm he's placed on Allen was bare proudly on the furry and fluffy chest.

"So this is what you were hiding….I guess I should have known," the redhead said.

Lavi gave a small smile and petted the wolf before him, who leaned into the elder's touch.

"Let's go, Allen. The curse will catch up with me soon," the pirate said as he rose to his feet.

The white wolf padded loyally next to the pirate captain, but the silver irises never left the teen he was following.

_I wonder if Tyki ever did something that made him like this. _Allen wondered as he padded silently next to the pirate.

Further into the gloomy island Lavi collapsed onto his knees, causing Allen to sniff at him with concern, whines of worry coming from his throat.

"It's alright, Allen," the redhead tried to reassure the other through gritted teeth, one hand against on his face.

The snowy wolf let out a protesting whine as he pushed his muzzle against the other's hand.

"I've just reached my limit is all, Allen," the pirate told the other, as he still continued to fight against the curse.

However it was a battle that he'd already lost as the curse overpowered his willpower, and silence followed those words. The wolf sat down besides the pirate and waited with a bit of fear at what would inevitably follow. With a slow movement the pirate captain dropped his hand from his face, catching Allen's attention. The teen-turned-wolf became almost horrified at what he saw, swirling black scrollwork like lines ran across the other's face. Starting by his left ear and swirled over his cheek and the bridge of his nose to end at his right cheek below his eye patch. That single emerald iris formerly filled with a youthful glow was dull and clouded, devoid of even a smidge of emotion. A dark aura rolled off in near palpable waves off the young pirate captain and it made the young wolf growl, hackles rising at the darkness surrounding the older teen. The younger stuck his nose against the strange markings that had appeared on the redhead's face sniffing at them curiously. With a low whine he pushed his muzzle harder against the other's face as he sniffed, until her felt a light pat on his head.

"Let's go, we're wasting time." Lavi's voice was just as cold as his eye.

The wolf let out a low growl as if he was displeased by the situation, but followed the redheaded pirate anyways. Allen didn't want to be on this island any longer, he didn't like this side of Lavi at all.

_I want to go back to the ship; I have a bad feeling about all this and am kinda scared._

Up ahead they spotted a figure sitting on a fallen tree trunk as if it had been expecting them to show up. The redhead paused but the snowy wolf curiously padded a ways forwards to inspect the figure, only to back away when he met cold golden irises. Before them was a male who looked to be several years older then them, with long curly black hair, a fair complexion and a mole under one of his stunning amber irises. However Allen seemed to sense the malicious and dark aura hanging about the man, ten times worse than the one around the redheaded captain and it made him feel sick. The young wolf backed up close to Lavi's leg, only coming up to around his thigh as he seemed to be cowering behind the redhead's leg.

"Well, why if it isn't mine old friend, Lavi the Bloody Rabbit. What brings ya around here?" the man said with a devilish tone.

The silver-white wolf's hackles rose at the tone of the voice and he bared his fangs with a terrible growl. A quick smack to the head, courtesy of Lavi, shut him right up and he sat down with lowered head and ears.

"Tyki….I've come to reclaim what's mine," the redhead said clenching his hands into a fist as if he was ready to brawl.

"What's yers? Don't make me laugh boy, but I see yer keeping pets now," Tyki said, swiftly changing the subject.

"Allen ain't no pet, now stop changing the subject ya damn rat, and return what belongs to me," the pirate snapped.

Allen found this change in the redheaded pirate quite frightening, as the older teen sounded so bloodthirsty almost like the man standing in front of them.

"If ya want it, then fight me. I'll return yer precious treasure if ya beat me," the dark-haired man said.

"Fight ya? Gladly!" the redhead exclaimed, making a sudden dash towards the other with an arm ready to strike.

Allen let out a panicked yip as Lavi engaged into a fight with Tyki, pacing back and forth before deciding that he should be helping his companion. Rushing forwards he snapped at the man's legs while he was busy trying to fend the redhead off. Tyki wasn't fazed by Allen's attack and simply gave the white wolf a powerful kick, making the young creature fly back against a tree.

"Fool!" Lavi scolded, landing a hit on the evasive dark-haired man.

Allen whimpered a bit but got up again, he tried to help the redhead again but he was kicked out of the way yet again this time by Lavi himself. The young wolf found the he couldn't do anything further, but watch in horror as Tyki forced the injured redheaded captain to his knees.

"Give up Lavi, yer a hundred years to early to be a match for me, even in yer current state," the golden-eyes man said,

"Filthy rat ya are," the redhead spat.

Tyki chuckled cruelly and suddenly stuck a dagger into the other's gut, drawing a terrible scream from the younger pirate. Allen reacted almost instantaneously, releasing a terrible howl before attacking the evil man. Sinking his teeth into the flesh of the man's thigh. Tyki reacted just as quickly and gave the wolf a deep gash on the flank, staining the pristine white fur in a dark ruby red. Allen yelped as he was thrown back, landing in an unceremonious heap at Lavi's side.

"Stay put, Allen. Ya can't win against him, if I can't do so myself," the redhead ordered, voice wavering slightly due to his injuries.

The dark-haired menace crouched down before the redheaded pirate and dug something out from his pocket.

"I will be nice and return something to ya." Tyki said, placing an amulet around Lavi's neck.

The charm on the amulet was of a winged dragon coiled around a magnificent emerald green orb

"Where did ya find this?" the captain asked through gritted teeth.

"That's a secret," the older pirate replied.

The redheaded captain growled in protest at the other's uninformative response. He tried to rise to his feet but he was sent sprawling back by a well placed punch to the face.

"Ya should learn when to stop, Lavi. Yer too injured to continue fighting. I'll let this serve as a warning." Tyki said with a cruel laugh.

"Ya rat…ya dirty rat," the redhead hissed.

The dark-haired man gave a laugh and disappeared from sight, a strange silence settled over then and neither of the two being stirred an inch. Allen was the first to move as he staggered to his paws, padding slowly over to the pirate's head. With a sinking feeling he noticed that the other's eye was shut, cautiously sniffing at the captain's battered face. A whine escaped the snowy wolf as h nudged the other's face with his nose. The lack of response worried the wolf and he tried again, only to have the same results. Resorting to one last thing the white wolf began to lick at Lavi's wounded face, gentle as not to cause any further harm. The trick worked like a charm and the redhead let out a groan, eye fluttering open. The pirate immediately sat up only to be wracked with pain, leaving him breathless.

"Where's Tyki, Allen?" the redheaded pirate asked.

Allen shook his head in a gesture that the older pirate was nowhere to be seen, and that he didn't know where the other had gone.

"Damn it!" Lavi exclaimed, but considering the state the curse had him in, it wasn't a very nice thing to experience.

The snowy wolf that was Allen gave a worried whine and paced anxiously. A sign that he wanted to go back even though he was wounded himself.

"Yer right lad. Tyki really did a number on us. It wouldn't be safe to stay here any longer," the captain muttered.

Being too injured to stand up properly Lavi used Allen to help him drag himself towards the boat. The younger was having much trouble helping the redhead with his own injured, thus it was slow progress for the two until they finally made it to the boat. Once far enough from the cursed island, the two reverted back to their normal states. Lavi silently placing his long coat over Allen's exposed body.

"Ow, ow. It hurts," the young orphan complained as he brought the coat closet to him, also placing a hand against his bleeding side.

"if it hurts so much the do as yer told." Lavi grumbled as he tried to ignore his pain.

"Would it kill you to be a little nicer?" the younger teen protested.

"Sorry, sorry, I'm just worried lad," the redhead replied apologetically.

"Anything I can help with? You should be worried about your wounds more than anything else," the orphan said.

"Same goes to ya, Allen," the pirate said in reply.

The young orphan remained silent as he placed his rag over his ears, hiding the before they reached the Black Rabbit. However he couldn't help but to worry about his companion, who wasn't really doing his best as he had a dagger sticking out of his belly, along with many other wounds.

"Shouldn't you get that dagger out?" Allen questioned.

"And bleed to death before we get to the ship?" the captain said, sounding as if his companion was a moron.

"Sorry…I just…." The orphan trailed off, flushing in embarrassment.

"I know lad, I know." Lavi murmured, reaching over to pat the orphan's head, "I refuse to die like this."

They reached the ship in no time and slowly climbed the rope ladder, Lavi going up before Allen to give the boy some privacy as he wasn't wearing anything underneath the coat. Their injured made the ascent painful and nearly impossible, but they managed. Once they made it back on board they were received by the expectant stares of the crew, which quickly turned into ones of horror when their injured captain momentarily collapsed on his knees. Without word Lavi rose and took Allen to the captain's cabin and ultimately collapsed into his bed, leaving the orphan just standing there. Something drove the younger teen to sit on the bed and look over the redhead's injuries. All were bad and it worried the younger quite a bit, specially the stomach wound.

"Lavi?" he questioned in a small tone.

This was replied by silence and the captain seemed to have gone unconscious again. His breathing was ragged and he was looking worse by the minute, a thin trail of blood trickled out of the corner of his mouth. Allen put aside his own pain and bleeding for the sake of his companion, though he kept a firm hand on his wound.

"Lavi?" the orphan tried again, tears shimmering in his eyes as he gently shook the older, Timcanpy who had stayed behind perched on Allen's head seeming to be worried.

_He told me that he refused to die, he can't die now._

The redheaded pirate cracked his eye open and looked at Allen with a small smile, motioning for the boy to come closer. With slight hesitance the orphan drew closer to the injured male.

"Yer a good kid, Allen." Lavi sad, stroking the other's cheek.

"Huh?" Allen said, a bit confused.

"I want ya to promise me something," the redhead said.

"What is it?" the young orphan asked.

"Promise me that ya will become stronger," the pirate replied.

"W-What are you talking about?" the younger teen asked cautiously.

"Promise me," the captain insisted, wiping a stray tear from the other's cheek.

"I-I promise," the pale-haired teen said after a pause.

"That's a good boy," the captain smiled, and slowly dropped his arms from the other's face.

With wide eyed Allen noticed that the redhead had completely lost consciousness, and he wasn't breathing properly and this all sent him into a state of panic.

"Lavi?...Lavi!...LAVI!"

o~x~x~x~x~o

**A/N: **Oh my, oh my is this a cliffy I sense? I wonder what will happen next?

Anyway….writing Tyki speaking like a pirate sent me into a fit of giggles every time.

Review mine lovelies, cuz yer so awesome! 3


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: **Oh look, here's another chapter for you guys to enjoy. This one was quite interesting to type. I do have a bit of a surprise for you concerning languages, so enjoy, I'm sure you'll laugh when you notice.

Thanks to: **Coldsteel Casanova, ****Magicsinger****, msdragonwings, Beastly B, fullmetal96100, Guest**** , ****Lavi the Ninja Panda** and **12RyuGorgon12**, for your ever so lovely reviews, and a shout out to all my silent readers.

Warnings: This chapter might give you a bit of a fluff overdose XD

Onwards to the story!

Enjoy~

o~x~x~x~x~o

The door to the cabin was thrown open at the ruckus within the room, and Bookman entered the cabin as if he'd known this would happen. The elderly man wordlessly set a bag down by Lavi's bed and examined the situation.

"Allen, what happened?" Bookman questioned softly.

"We went on the island and this Tyki guy showed up and Lavi started fighting with him because he said Tyki had his treasure. That's how we ended up like this," the orphan replied.

"Reckless child," the elderly man said, as he wiped the blood from the corner of his grandson's mouth.

"I'm sorry I couldn't do anything to help him," the young orphan said.

"It's alright Allen. No one is blaming you," the old man said, "Now I need your help."

"Okay….It's the least I can do," the young teen replied, wincing slightly as he moved.

"I'll care for your wounds afterwards." Bookman said.

The young orphan nodded and watched the elderly medic look over Lavi's injuries closely.

"Allen, I need you to put pressure on the wound once I remove the knife." Bookman said.

The young teen nodded and waited for the old medic to remove the knife from his grandson's belly. Once the knife was removed, the orphan placed his hand firmly against the wound. Sticky warm blood oozed out of the wound, coating the younger's palm and fingers with warm ruby liquid. Spasms ran through Lavi's battered body as more of that ruby fluid flowed from his mouth.

"Allen, I need you to hold his body up so he doesnt choke on his own blood," Bookman ordered calmly.

Allen was surprised by how calm the old man was acting despite the fact that his grandson was dying of blood loss. The orphan did as he was told and practically took the redhead into his arms, keeping pressure on the bleeding wound of his belly.

"I didn't think that Tyki hurt him this badly," the young orphan murmured.

"Tyki is a dangerous man and Lavi is a fool for trying to engage such a monster," the old man said.

"Don't blame Lavi," the pale-haired teen murmured.

"Who else is there to blame? He did it out of his own stubborn ideology." Bookman said as he began to work on his grandson's wounds.

The orphan remained silent for he had nothing to respond with, deciding that silence would be the best option right now. His attention was instead focused on the teen in his arms. A worried expression crossed the youth's face, the captain's face was pale and ruby fluid stained his lips and trailed down to his chin.

"Will…he be okay?" the young teen questioned.

"He'll live if that's what you mean." Bookman replied.

The orphan didn't look to be satisfied by the old man's words, but continued to watch over the redheaded pirate in silence. He let the old medic do his work and as he relaxed, the pains of his injuries made themselves known. A small groan escaped his lips as he tried to ignore his pains. After Bookman finished taking care of his grandson, he moved on to care for the pale-haired teen's wounds.

Half an hour after Bookman left the cabin Allen found himself standing by the window in the cabin, fixedly watching the sky. The wound on his side was tightly bound with bandages; he had not left the captain's cabin so he was wearing one of Lavi's shirts. This one was longer than it seemed so it reached down to above his knees, the other's coat covering his small frame. Lavi was still unconscious on the bed, but he was breathing fine and the color had returned to his face. His silver irises glowed softly in the light of the full moon. Timcanpy settled himself on his master's shoulder as the other's mind escaped into its own thoughts.

Allen soon found himself in a dream-like state, floating in the middle of a beautiful crystal clear ocean. Overhead the sky was a brilliant blue, with flocks of seagulls flying by and around him in the clear waters were many colorful fish.

"This is so beautiful," the youth said aloud in awe, his voice echoing oddly.

"Isn't it?" a voice echoed, somewhat familiar but the teen couldn't place it.

The orphan continued to take in the relaxing scenery, so much better than the ship he was currently on. The calming atmosphere caused him to feel very sleepy, no longer being able to tell dream from reality.

"That's right, sleep all ya want. This beautiful sight will be the last thing ya see," the voice said in a seemingly threatening way.

Allen tried hard not to fall asleep after that but it rendered him vulnerable. A panic settled over him as he felt a hand wrap around his throat from behind, squeezing until he could no longer breathe properly.

"_Banir!" _a voice boomed in a strange language, and the peaceful scene shattered into a million pieces like a mirror.

When Allen came to he found himself staring out the window, with someone holding him from behind.

"It seems like Tyki's mad at ya for biting him." Lavi murmured into the orphan's ear.

"Lavi, what are you doing out of bed?" the younger teen blurted out.

"Didn't ya just hear me, Allen? It seems that I was just in time too," the redhead said.

"How do you know it wasn't just a hallucination I was having?" the pale-haired teen protested.

"Because, Tyki's a sorcerer, he was trying to break yer mind as payback and ya fool let yer guard down," the captain snapped.

The orphan was unsure as to what was going on, but he went along with it for now as Tyki probably really was angry about that nasty bite.

"What are you doing up? Are you in pain? You almost died you know," the orphan said.

"I could ask the same of ya lad. Weren't ya injured as well?" the pirate asked, gently running a finger down the other' injured side.

The young orphan shuddered at the touch but kept his gaze straight at the moon. Tim fluttered off Allen's shoulder when Lavi slowly removed the coat from the boy's frail shoulders. Curiously the younger teen looked over his shoulder, giving the other a slight look of warning.

"Lavi…" the orphan said firmly.

"If ya move I might fall," the redhead said.

The younger teen said nothing but continued to watch the sky, ignoring the redhead behind him for a while.

"Allen?" the young captain asked.

"Yeah?" the pale-haired teen replied.

"About the wolf thing, how come ya can turn into one too?" Lavi questioned.

"It was a terrible experiment. I can't really control when I shape-shift….it just kinda happens depending on the situation and my emotions." Allen replied.

"Sorry to hear that lad," the redheaded pirate said, running a finger over the other's throat.

The orphan froze at the touch and his mind was brought to that illusion that Tyki had set on him. Realizing the reaction the redhead dropped his hand, hesitating a moment before wrapping his arms around the younger. They stayed that way for a while; the silent calmness finally let Allen's delayed shock come forth. They had been attacked, Lavi had almost died, he himself had almost died, and Tyki had almost broken his mind. All these things had finally caught up to the orphan and he began to shake, the redhead placed his chin atop the younger's head. Jumping slightly when he felt warm liquid hit the skin of his arms, yet his companion didn't make a noise.

"Allen?" He asked softly.

No verbal reply came as the younger didn't trust himself to speak yet. Tears still hit the elder's skin but the orphan did not make a noise or moved aside from the shaking. The captain drew the frail form in his arms close to his heavily injured body, also not saying anything. Timcanpy fluttered about them in a circle before landing on the redheaded captain's shoulder, looking watchfully over his master. Lavi leaned down near one of the orphan's furry ears, only to have the younger flinch slightly away.

"Tudo vai ficar bem, eu prometo_,_" the redhead's voice sung in his ear, foreign language smoothly rolling off his tongue, "Allen."

The pirate's smooth voice managed to draw a reply from the orphan which came in the form of a shaky sigh. He remembered that not long ago that same voice had almost ceased to exist because of the owner's foolishness. The redhead was in pain, yes, but it was something he could handle for the sake of the boy in his arms. What he wasn't expecting was for the younger teen to suddenly collapse and slip out of his grip He figured that this entire experience has rattled the orphan to a great extent; he sympathized with the youth because he could see himself in the other's shoes. However Lavi didn't believe that this would be the end to these sorts of experiences and he believed that it would serve to harden the boy.

"Allen, can ya go on the bed for me? I can't get ya here myself," the pirate said in a soft tone.

The young orphan said nothing but forced himself to his feet and dragged himself to Lavi's bed, collapsing onto the sheets. With a pained smile the older teen climbed onto the bed, hissing in pain as he did. Lying down next to his companion he drew the other closer, waiting until the orphan got a hold of himself. Timcanpy fluttered onto the bed and cuddled up to them as if trying to protect the both and this drew a smile from Lavi. Allen turned his face upwards to look at the captain, the look on the others face was blank but his eyes were shiny with unshed tears. Something within the captain's icy heart lurched at the look the other was giving him.

"Don't look at me like that lad." Lavi said to his companion.

The younger gave a shaky sigh and buried his face in the other's chest, having a bit of trouble trying to get himself together. The redhead seemed to sense that trouble and whispered soothing foreign words into the other's ears.

"Silêncio criança tudo vai ficar bem_."_

The younger teen pulled away from the older and gave a curious look, clearly confused by the other's words.

"Lavi…?" the pale-haired teen whispered the question.

"What is it lad?" the redheaded pirate replied softly.

"You know another language?" the younger asked.

"Aye, I know Portuguese like a second language and a bit of Japanese because of Yuu," the captain replied.

"How do you know Portuguese?" the orphan asked.

"Tyki taught it to me," the redhead replied flatly, wiping a stray tear from the other's cheek.

"Why did Tyki call you "Bloody Rabbit" back on the island?"Allen pressed, his distress momentarily forgotten due to his curiosity

"I ain't the kind of person ya think I am Allen, I got more blood on mine hands than ya can possibly imagine." Lavi replied calmly.

"I find that hard to believe," the orphan said.

"Ya haven't been on this ship long enough to realize that looks can be deceiving. We've already gone over this," the redhead responded patiently.

The young orphan became silent after that, a small frown on his face as he looked away from the older and a yawn followed soon enough.

"Rest Allen, it's been a long day," the pirate murmured.

Allen gave in with another yawn and nestled closer to the warmth of the pirate, the latter shifting into a less painful position. Timcanpy changed his position along with the two, so he was snuggled protectively among them.

"Lavi?" the youth mumbled sleepily.

"Aye?" the other replied.

"Can you do it again?"

"Do what again?" the pirate questioned.

"Speak Portuguese," the orphan replied.

"Aye, aye," the redhead said, mildly cheerful.

The older teen leaned closer to the other's furry ear and whispered a low lullaby in Portuguese, successfully getting the other to fall asleep as well as fulfilling the other's wish.

The next morning Allen was awoken by the sounds of rummaging around the cabin, and he cracked his eyes open to see what was going on. To his surprise he saw Lavi wobbling around the cabin in the process of getting dressed.

"Hn? What are you doing Lavi?" the younger teen asked sleepily.

"Oh, sorry. Did I wake ya?" the redhead asked.

"No, not really," the young orphan replied.

"Oh good, I need ya to go get dressed," the pirate said.

"Why? Aren't we supposed to be on bed rest?" the pale-haired teen frowned.

"I know, but I feel like there's something wrong. I can't just stay put," the captain replied.

The young orphan nodded in understanding and with a small smile he went to leave, Tim watchfully following after his injured master.

"I'll see you on deck then. Stay out of trouble." Allen murmured and left the room.

"Who do ya think yer talking to kid?" Lavi said to the now empty room.

The orphan later appeared loyally next to the redhead, once he got properly dressed. He found that Kanda was on them as soon as he joined the captain on the quarterdeck.

"What are ya two idiots doing?" the Japanese teen growled.

"Don't worry so much Yuu," the redhead said.

"Tch," the other huffed before walking away "Do whatever ya want."

Lavi rolled his eye and paced around the quarterdeck, leaving Allen and Timcanpy to steer the ship on their own as he paced.

"Lavi, are you okay?" the young orphan asked.

"I'm alright, just worried," the redheaded pirate replied.

The younger teen said nothing further as he focused on steering Lavi's great ship with a little help from his faithful companion, Timcanpy. Business about the ship was peacefully going on as usual, though most of the crew had watchful eyes on their injured captain since news of his bad injuries had spread throughout the crew.

_Lavi's so stubborn. _Allen thought as he glanced over at the pacing captain, noting the pain in his movements.

In the distance a strange horn was blown, its sound echoing over the waters like a warning. The redheaded pirate froze in mid-step and turned his head towards the sound. The younger noted that the elder looked very worried and displeased.

"Allen, I need to know if ya can focus on the path ahead while in a tense situation. I need ya to steer the ship while I take care of other things," the pirate asked.

"Why me?" Allen blurted out.

"Because I'm giving ya the order." Lavi replied.

"O-kay," the orphan said.

The sound of the horn echoed again and the two on the quarterdeck turned to see a large ship in the distance, closing in on them from behind fairly quickly. By the look on the redhead's face it was obvious that he recognized the pursuing ship.

"Full speed ahead mates! We're being chased down by the Ark!" the captain bellowed.

"The Ark? Didn't you say that was Tyki's ship?" the young orphan asked, keeping his focus on the waters ahead.

"Aye, this is bad. We have to get away from the Ark as soon as possible. In my condition I can't put up much of a fight, I will not stand to have others fight for me." Lavi said.

"At least you aren't so stubborn as to fight Tyki in your condition," the pale-haired teen murmured.

"Now ain't the time to be funny lad," the redheaded captain warned.

"I'm the one doing all the steering, something you should be doing." Allen shot back, icily.

"Allen, mine job as a captain ain't just to steer the ship, it's to….Agh, we don't have time to be bickering. Just do as yer told and end of story," the older teen said.

The younger stayed silent as he wasn't exactly in the mood to bicker with the redhead. Instead he surveyed the chaos going on at the deck below as the redheaded captain barked out orders. The orphan chanced a look back and saw that the Ark was gaining on them. The captain came to stand tall by the younger, taking control of the helm but keeping his companion near.

"I don't like this Lavi. That ship is getting too close," the pale-haired teen said.

"I know lad, I'm afraid if this keeps up we won't be able to outrun the Ark," the redheaded pirate replied.

"How fast can the Black Rabbit go," the younger teen questioned.

"She's pretty fast, if I say so myself." Lavi replied.

Allen opened his mouth to say something further, just as he was about to a great spear whizzed between him and Lavi and embedded itself in one of the masts. Everything went silent as two more spears tied to thick ropes embedded themselves into the Black Rabbit. The great ship groaned as it was forced to slowly turn from its position.

"Yuu! Do something about the ropes!" the redhead pirate shouted the order.

The ropes were quickly dispatched by and irritated Kanda wielding a sharp-bladed katana. The captain quickly turned the ship back on track and they kept heading away from the Ark.

"That was way too close," the redhead grumbled.

"I agree," the orphan said.

The ship became eerily silent as everyone was on edge due to the attempted attack on their vessel. The redheaded captain was on edge as well and Allen could tell that he was trying to be as calm as possible, focusing on not his pain nor the Ark but on the safety of his crew.

"Lavi, I don't like this," the orphan told his companion.

"I don't like this either. We need to stay away from Tyki at all costs," the redhead murmured.

Not everything remained calm on the Black Rabbit; out of seemingly nowhere a cable wrapped around Lavi's wrist and yanked him overboard. If it wasn't for Allen's quick reflexes the captain would have ended up in the waters, being dragged to who knows where. At the last minute the orphan grabbed a hold of Lavi's other wrist before he went completely away from the ship. The redhead clasped onto the boy's wrist with one hand and using the other to get a hold of the railing, struggling against the cable that was constantly trying to yank his wrist. The younger braced himself against the ship's railing as he tried to keep the captain from being taken away, even Tim was trying to help by pulling on his master's collar as he flapped his wings wildly. Each hand had a vice-like grip on the other's wrist, one refusing to fall and the other refusing to let go.

The struggle did not go unnoticed and Kanda followed by Lenalee were on them as soon as the struggle was seen. Out of duty to his captain, the Japanese teen grabbed a hold on the back of Allen's clothing and tried to yank both of them so Lavi would be back on board. However a greater force yanked on the cable around Lavi's wrist and subsequently hauled Lavi, Allen Timcanpy and Kanda completely off the ship. They went flying before a quick reaction from the raven-haired pirate severed the cord. They were in midair for a second before plunging down into the deep blue waters below, different voicings of surprise coming from them by cause of sudden events.

o~x~x~x~x~o

**A/N: **Another kinda cliffy XD sorry I just can't help myself. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I liked writing it. Also i hope you laughed when you saw what i was talking about in the A/N at the start of the chapter. i know i did when i was writing it.

Review mine lovelies, yer all so damn awesome.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: **Here is an update for you; I decided to update this story first because I got a kind of writer's block for the next chapter for Shattered Snow, so I decided to post this one that was already done in my notebook while I finished the other chapter.

Thanks To**: ****Shining-Neon-Skies, Beastly B, ****Magicsinger, Greystar13, 12RyuGorgon12, Visitor (Guest)**** , **and **Jesusgirl124 **for your ever so wonderful reviews, and a shout out to all my silent readers as well.

Warning: Be ready to be assaulted by feels…just putting it out there…

Onwards to the story!

Enjoy~

As soon as the group hit the salty waters, Allen and Lavi both gasped in pain as the salty water soaked through their bandages and entered their wounds. Each holding onto Kanda to prevent from drowning as they flailed.

"Oi! Stop moving ya idiots!" the raven-haired teen growled, cracking their foreheads together to make them stop.

Lavi was the first one to calm down followed by Allen as they both kept a hold upon Kanda's person. The redhead knew that they were losing time like this, and his fear came true when the shadow of the Ark fell upon them as they drifted further and further away from the Black Rabbit.

"Yuu! The ship, get it away from here!" the pirate ordered.

"Aye, aye," the Japanese pirate replied.

The redheaded captain grabbed the orphan and swam the opposite way from the other pirate, who quickly made his way towards the Black Rabbit.

"Shouldn't we follow him?" the youth questioned.

"No, it's alright. He'll commandeer the ship for now," the older teen replied.

The redhead urged his companion to swim faster away from the ships, Timcanpy faithfully following from above.

"What will happen now?" Allen asked softly, as they helped each other swim.

"Yuu will take care of everything and he'll come look for us when he loses Tyki," the older teen murmured.

"I don't know how long I can swim for," the orphan murmured.

"We don't have to. Look," the redhead pointed to a large piece of wood, peacefully drifting by.

The younger teen nodded in understanding as they both grabbed onto the piece of wood as it floated by. Thus the two injured teens let the currents and waves carry them away.

"Tim…" the younger murmured as the little thing nuzzled his cheek, "I'm fine Tim."

Allen's gaze drifted over to his companion, the captain had passed out some time ago. Though he wasn't worried about the other slipping off since the piece of wood was large enough to be a makeshift boat. He gave a small smile as he watched the other's peaceful face, no longer troubled by the recent ordeals. The orphan could feel his vision wavering and he laid his cheek against the cool moistness of the wood.

"Tim…I need you to watch over us…I…can't…." the pale-haired teen said, voice faltering as he joined his companion in unconsciousness.

When Allen came to, he found himself looking at a blurry world as his vision hadn't returned to normal quite yet. He felt as if someone was holding him, but that wasn't his main focus. His side burned and ached, badly. A groan escaped his lips and something underneath him shifted, some object was place against his lips and cool liquid ran down his parched mouth and throat. Coughing slightly, he was pushed up so he could properly swallow the liquid, which happened to be coconut milk. Once his gaze cleared he turned his head and found Lavi patiently staring at him.

"Hey," the orphan said lowly, his voice hoarse and broken.

The redhead said nothing but pushed something against his lips again, that something turning out to be half a coconut. The younger greedily drank at the offered liquid, some of it spilling down his chin. The redheaded captain gave a laugh as he wiped the spilled liquid from the boy's face.

"Where are we?" Allen asked, looking up at his companion.

"A beach, we're back in civilization," the other replied.

The orphan remained silent as he looked up at his companion, examining the captain. Seeming to sense the stare, he narrowed his eye as he looked down at the younger.

"Ya need something lad?" the pirate questioned.

The young orphan flushed upon realizing what he was doing and looked away from the older male. Lavi chuckled and sat his companion up, however the younger wasn't expecting the sudden movement and a hiss of pain escaped as he collapsed. The redhead easily caught him, holding the other up in a sitting position with a hand pressed against his back.

"Ya okay?" the redhead questioned.

"Yeah, I think so," the other replied.

"We should get moving. We're sittin' ducks right now," the pirate said, staggering to his feet.

"Where will we go? How will Kanda find us?" the younger questioned, as the other helped him up.

"We'll find an inn to stay at. As for Yuu, we'll use yer lil pet to communicate with 'im," the older teen replied.

Allen nodded as they walked off towards the beach town, the captain leading the way. They both made their way towards the only inn in the small sea side town. The odd duo elicited the stares of the townsfolk as they passed by on their way to the inn. Once they settled in their room at the inn, they went about changing each other's bandages and getting into clean and dry clothes. After that they ultimately found themselves in the inn's bar, as suggested by the redheaded pirate and the youth was more reluctant to be around alcohol than the pirate.

If a drunken Allen was bad then a drunken Lavi was about ten times worse, but both of them mildly drunk together in the same room was almost unbearable. The innkeeper had to take both teens by the ear and shove them into their room, so they could only make trouble among themselves instead of bothering the other guests.

One thing about the pirate when he got drunk he got overly flirty with anything that had a pulse. Thus once the two drunken teens found themselves alone in the room, things started getting quite odd. The elder teen pinned the younger to the bed, and the latter who was still in a drunken state kept insisting that the captain was being awfully mean to him. Lavi didn't mind this at all and kept on doing what he was doing. A hand was snaked up the orphan's shirt; the youth jolted and gave a whine about how rude the other was being. The redhead chuckled and leaned down closer to the other's ears, whispering sweet words in three different languages. This seemed to calm the younger teen and the pirate took advantage of this, moving slowly from the other's ears to the corner of the boy's mouth. This slow action caused Allen to squirm in discomfort.

"Allen," the captain said in a low tone.

A ruckus in the inn cut into the odd moment of tenderness, screams and gunshots followed the ruckus causing chaos. At the sounds of gunshots the redhead immediately sobered up and placed a hand over the orphan's mouth, listening to the sounds. Stealthily the captain grabbed his companion and slunk under the bed, taking the boy into his arms while keeping ta hand over the other's mouth as he hid in the shadows under the bed. The young orphan made a noise as if asking "what's going on?" as he looked carefully out from the shadows.

"Shh, Allen. Pirates are here, stay very quiet," the captain whispered into the other's ear.

"Why do we have to hide?" Allen slurred as he pulled the elder's hand away from his mouth, slightly more sober now.

"We can't engage other pirates in our condition. Besides I can't ruin that pretty image ya have of me in yer head can I?" the redheaded captain replied, covering the youth's mouth again.

The duo lapsed into silence as they listened to the chaos going on within the inn; the redheaded pirate narrowed his eyes as he listened to the goings on. Lavi whispered something into Allen's ear as the door to their room slammed open, to prevent the youth from making unnecessary noise and giving away their position. The two watched as several pairs of boots entered the room, the older teen watched this with a still narrowed eye as he held his companion.

"There ain't no one here," a gruff voice spoke.

Allen held on to Timcanpy as the boots stomped around, keeping the little thing from giving them away since he knew his pet would try to protect them.

"Fool, there are clothes here," another voice snapped.

Behind him the orphan felt the older teen stiffen and a small breath of annoyance tickled his neck. Another pair of boots entered the room and they stopped directly before the bed.

"Lavi, how long are ya planning to hide?" a horrifyingly familiar voice spoke.

The two teens froze in their spot, neither moving nor believing that the monster they were running from had found them so easily.

"Lavi, aren't ya too old to be playing these kinds of games?" Tyki said in a sickly sweet tone.

Finding themselves with no other choice the redhead dragged them out of their hiding spot, standing side by side before the elder pirate.

"My, my… is this that little wolf ya had with ya?" the dark-haired man asked teasingly.

Neither teen said anything as they were both trying to figure out a way to get out of this situation. Allen looked up at Lavi and silent communication passed between them as they both understood what exactly needed to be done.

"If ya need alone time with yer little lover, why don't ya just say so?" the golden-eyes male said with a creepy grin.

The orphan spluttered indignantly as he flushed with embarrassment at the comment, the redhead however remained un-phased by the comment as his mind was on their escape. Regardless of their silence the elder pirate tried to pry words out of either of them, his patience wearing thin at the fruitless task. Suddenly sensing an opening Lavi tapped his companion on the back, without word Timcanpy flew from Allen and the two teens seized the moment of distraction and confusion to make a run for it. The orphan leading the way after his pet, keeping a tight hold on the wrist of his older companion. As they made their way through the now desolate inn, the younger teen focused his gaze on Timcanpy so he didn't see the carnage left behind by Tyki and his followers. It wasn't too long before Tyki sprung into action, but regardless that they were injured and being chased they kept running. Following Tim to wherever the little thing felt that it was safe.

Allen stopped running when he felt the elder's wrist leave his hand, he turned just in time to see the redheaded captain being yanked into Tyki's arms and his followers surrounding the three. The sudden shock of the thick-headed and fearless leader being caught by their enemy after all they've done to get away from him, proved too much for the orphan. The change happened right before their eyes, the trigger unknown to anyone but Allen himself. In the place of the frail orphan was a gorgeous snow-white wolf. However the wolf was far from friendly-looking, hackles raised and teeth bared as he growled. The snowy wolf lunged at the dark-haired pirate. Tyki threw the redhead aside as he stared the charging wolf down. Allen attacked by raking a strong forepaw across the man's chest, claws tearing through cloth and flesh. A quick reaction from the dark-haired pirate sent the white wolf flying, and Lavi took the elder's distracted state to rush over to the wolf, which was currently rising to his paws. The captain wrapped his arms around the wolf's strong neck, the latter calming as the pirate's familiar scent entered his nostrils.

"_Está tudo bem, Allen," _The redheaded captain said softly, knowing his speaking a foreign language would calm him.

The wolf visibly calmed further and the creature suddenly changed back into a human. Lavi removed his coat and quickly placed it around the orphan's exposed body, hiding him from unwanted eyes. The slim bodied teen hugged his arms around the elder's neck.

"_Você é um bom menino, Allen. Você fez bem."_ Lavi said softly, pressing his lips to the top of the younger's head.

Allen's ears were pressed flat against his skull as he hugged the older teen, trying to rein his emotions in. Tyki knelt down before the two, ignoring the blood leaking from the wounds the young orphan had caused. A huge smirk appeared on the man's face upon hearing the younger captain speak.

"_Eu não sabia que você ainda falava_ _Português, Lavi." _ Tyki said, language flawlessly and teasingly rolling off his tongue.

"_Se perder, Tyki_." Lavi spat, clutching his younger companion closer.

"_Eu vejo,"_ the dark-haired man murmured.

Despite not understanding the words that were being exchanged between the two, the pale-haired tee still listened with mild interest.

"I'll give ya a choice, Lavi. Ya either surrender yerself and yer little pet to me, or I can let ya watch him die in yer arms. It's yer choice." Tyki said, pressing the tip of a gun to the back of Allen's head.

The boy stiffened but otherwise made not noise, seeming as if he was deep in thought. In fact his mind had suddenly traveled back to the promised he had made the redhead. Slowly the orphan turned his head and body slightly so he was looking at the man threatening them. The gun that was previously on the back of his head was now pressed between his eyes. There was no trace of fear in the silver pools as they stared defiantly at the other. The look caused the ruthless pirate to start laughing, making the young orphan frown.

"Ya got a death wish, don't ya boy?" Tyki asked.

"W-What do you plan to gain from this?" the young teen questioned, voice faltering but still firm.

"That would be none of yer business boy," the elder pirate replied, "Now what's yer choice, Lavi?"

A movement in his periphery caught Allen's attention, but he didn't let Tyki see that there was someone else there. Lavi on the other hand remained silent as he neither wanted to surrender and subject the orphan to unwanted torture, but he wasn't willing to let the boy die while he could help it. Something golden crashed into the gun, throwing it from the man's hand.

"Tim!" Allen exclaimed as his little pet nuzzled into the crook of his neck.

Chaos broke out all around them and the youth tried to get a good look around, but Lavi pressed the boy's face against the crook of his neck.

"Don't look," the redhead said.

The orphan released a breath against the other's neck, making a shiver run through the older.

"Ya two are really downright brainless." Kanda's voice drifted into the youth's ears.

The pale-haired teen made the mistake of quickly turning to avoid the redhead's hand, and gazing upon the newcomer. The long-haired pirate as well as his katana was covered in splatters of blood. The metallic scent of blood permeated the air in a thick veil, and it assaulted the younger's sensitive nose.

"K-Kanda?" the younger asked in a stammer.

Allen was about to look around to see what had become of Tyki, who was no longer in front of them, as well as why Kanda was covered in blood. However a warm hand covered his eyes preventing him from seeing anything.

"What are ya fools waiting for? Let's go," the Japanese pirate growled.

The other two teens got up after a moment of hesitance and the younger, who had chose to walk behind the two with his gaze on his feet, pulled Lavi's coat closer and closed the zipper to hide his bare body. Timcanpy hid in one of the coat's pockets, making the pale-haired teen grumble a bit.

A cloth was suddenly slapped over his nose and mouth and he panicked, reaching an arm towards the retreating backs of his two companions. The last image in his mind before his vision went black was that of the two older teens walking away without realizing what was happening behind them.

**A/N: **Is this a cliffy I see? Oh you know I have to do it XD

Also as an idea given to me by one of my lovely reviewers (you know who you are) I will probably bump up the rating in this fic (I think it will probably end up being bumped up sooner or later, so why not sooner?) I have a fantastic torture scene that I wanna do (after reading that review, I made up my mind) but it requires me to bump the rating up (and who knows maybe I'll add a lemon too) so what do you guys think?

Review mine lovelies, I shall love ya forever and ever XD


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: **Omg, guys am so sorry about this uber late chapter, but life happens y'know. However here is this sorely overdue chapter. This story is now official rated M because I decided to do some stuff. I could hardly write this chapter with a straight face and without having nosebleeds.

Thanks to: **Beastly ****B, Kamakiri, The chick with no fucking pen, Crazyanimelover1289, ****Magicsinger, Visitor (Guest)**** , ****Guest**** , ****mamita (Guest)**** , ****yukikosnow139, notarealname (Guest), mellody (Guest), **and **Guest **for your ever so wonderful reviews, and also to all my wonderful and silent readers.

Warnings: (got quite a few this time) Torture, physical abuse, sexual abuse (rape) (yes, I am a kind of twisted individual, you guys should of seen this coming XD)

Onwards to the story!

Enjoy~

o~x~x~x~x~o

Allen's eyes fluttered open and he groggily looked around, his still fuzzy mind couldn't quite decipher what was going on. As his fuzzy mind gradually became clearer, he noticed that he was in some sort of cell. He also became aware that there were shackles around his wrists and ankles, the chains connected to the shackles led to a wall behind him. He felt kind of numb and horrified, but he wasn't exactly scared yet. Soft movements caught his attention, as he had experience with the movements of a ship he figured that he in fact was on an enemy ship.

_What have I gotten myself into? _he thought idly.

Timcanpy suddenly flew out from the pocket of the coat he was wearing and flew in quick circles around his master.

"Tim…" Allen said softly.

In the near distance footsteps echoed eerily on the wooden flooring of what he was extremely sure was an enemy ship. The golden orb quickly flew back into the pocket that he had been hiding in, the orphan's ears swiveled this way and that to pinpoint the source of the footsteps. The source made itself present before the bars of his little cell, in the form of Tyki. The young orphan looked warily at the man, unhappy by this unfavorable change of events. The man gave a strange grin and entered the cell, making the young teen tense up. The dark-haired pirate knelt down before the orphan, whose ears flattened as the other's presence unsettled him.

"Now, now don't be that way. I ain't gonna hurt ya...much," the pirated said.

None of those words made Allen feel the least bit comfortable with the situation, plus the fact that Lavi's story about the man and Bookman confirming the fact that Tyki was nothing more than a monster had installed a fear for the man deep in his heart.

"Prove, get these chains off me," the orphan said.

"I said I wasn't going to hurt ya much, I ain't that generous," the golden-eyed pirate replied.

The young teen remained silent with a light frown on his face, lightly tugging on his bonds.

"What do you want from me? Isn't Lavi your target?" the young orphan questioned.

"Oh, don't worry, he's still mine target. Ya'll just be the bait, since he seems to have taken a fancy to ya," the dark-haired man replied.

Allen's previous plan of sending Timcanpy to Lavi was now out of the question. Though he was sure that the redhead was going to come for him anyway, it was just a hunch however since he didn't know Lavi that well as to assume that he would go out of his way to come find one measly shipmate.

_Please don't come find me Lavi, it's a trap._

Tyki reached a hand towards the pale-haired teen, who flinched away from the appendage. The hand paused before coming to rest against the boy's face; however the youth's first reaction was to bite. So he ended up biting the man's hand quite hard, causing the devilish pirate to give a howl of pain. Allen suddenly got the feeling that biting had been the wrong action to take when being held captive by an unpredictable pirate. As to agree with the youngster's train of thought, the man's face changed into an unpleasant expression. The orphan's bravery faded and he became slightly fearful, questioning in his mind what would happen to him now. Without word the dark-haired pirate bound a cloth over the boy's mouth, an irritate expression on his face.

"Ya sure like biting don't ya boy?" Tyki asked, not expecting an answer.

Allen warily watched Tyki to see what the other's next move would be. The pirate surprised him by undoing the shackles around his wrists and ankles. However his hopes were dashed when the other tied a rope around his neck and dragged him to his feet. There was no hope for escape, yet he couldn't bring himself to send Timcanpy to get Lavi. The elder pirate led him from the cell and through a hallway and to a room. The crew of the ship didn't show their faces during the trek to the room and it made him wonder if there even was a crew on the ship to begin with or if Tyki had killed them all in a fit.

They stopped in front of a door and the man opened it, dragging the young orphan into the room. Allen was horrified to say the least at what he saw. The place itself was barren besides the odd crate here and there, it was nothing special. However the single thing that shocked him the most was what lay in the middle of the room. There was a large table in the middle that was exactly the same kind as the one that he had been placed on during his experiment, and above the table was a long chain hanging from the ceiling with shackles at the end.

A fear settled inside him as he tried to block the memory of that point of his life, which was the absolute worst. The orphan tried to make a run for it, but Tyki quickly caught him. The young teen struggled and tried to claw his way out of the other's grip. The dark-haired pirate overpowered the boy and slammed him down onto the table, fastening his wrists and ankles to it with rough leather straps that were already fastened to the table by chains. The man took the rope from the boy's neck as well as the cloth from his mouth.

"What are you going to do?" Allen asked, trying to struggle in his bonds.

Tyki came to stand by the orphan's head and pressed the palm of his hand against the boy's forehead. Allen froze at the touch and renewed his struggle to get away from the bonds and his captor. The dark-haired man whispered something in Portuguese and afterwards the orphan could feel himself becoming very mellow, almost as if he was losing his will to fight. This in itself made the young teen fear the reasoning behind this sudden change.

"Let me tell ya a little story." Tyki said as he walked around the table.

The pale-haired teen watched the man walk circles around the table with a wary expression on his face, not really liking the vibe he was getting.

"It wasn't in my plans to do anything to ya, even though ya bit me. However, I didn't expect Lavi to take a fancy to ya," the dark-haired pirate said.

"What do you mean?" Allen asked, voice calm due to whatever sorcery that had been cast upon him.

"Having people to care about makes ya weak. The moment that he took you in he became weaker." Tyki replied.

"Shouldn't it be the other way around? And what about his crew? He cares about them too," the orphan said, finding this entire thing ridiculous.

"Yer so naïve, boy," the man said with a laugh as he leaned against the table.

The young orphan said nothing and shifted slightly, as if moving away from the other's closeness. The pirate placed a hand on either side of the orphan's body and Allen internally started panicking, even though his body showed little response. Suddenly Tyki grabbed the young teen's face with one hand and held it tightly.

"I will not let ya ruin this, worthless feelings like love and compassion have no place here," the man growled.

"How do you know that he doesn't have those feelings, because he obviously does no matter what you say! We're all human and we all have those feelings." Allen said defiantly.

The room echoed with the resounding sound of a harsh slap, the orphan's eyes watered under the force of the strike and he slowly turned his head back to look at Tyki.

"I made 'im what he is today! Stay outta this ya little mutt!" the pirate yelled.

"How can I when you're holding me captive!" the young orphan shouted back, the spell over him somehow breaking.

"Yer gonna regret ever existing, boy!" the dark-haired man spat as he roughly grabbed the collar of the coat, before letting go of it just as roughly.

"I already do!" the words came out of his mouth before he could stop them, and he just fell silent for a moment.

_I don't care if this is a trap, I have to get out of here and Lavi's my only hope now_

"Tim!" the pale-haired teen called.

The golden orb flew out of one of the coat's pockets, momentarily startling the enraged pirate.

"Go, Tim! Go to the Black Rabbit, find Lavi and the others." Allen ordered the little thing in a low tone, but the creature seemed reluctant to go.

"Go Tim, please!" the orphan begged his pet.

As if making up its mind Timcanpy took off, disappearing from the room through a gap under the door.

"Ya think that's gonna help ya, boy? By the time he gets here I'll be done with ya," Tyki said in a dark tone.

The young teen's wolf ears twitched and flattened as the boy watched the other's movements with a warily expression and a bad feeling rooted itself deep in his gut. The man fiddled the chain dangling above the table, before roughly unbinding him from the table and retying his arms to the chains above. The elder pirate the roughly cut the top half of the coat off, revealing the boy's milky white and bandages skin. Allen flinched at the sudden event, shivering slightly as the cool air hit his exposed skin.

_Lavi's going to be upset about his coat. _the orphan thought idly.

The dark-haired pirate ran a hand over the boy's bandages side, causing the youth to cringe a bit.

"What shall we do with ya?" the pirate asked with a smirk.

Almost tantalizingly slow, Tyki unraveled the bandages covering the wound on his side from the youngster's abdomen.

"W-What are you doing?" the pale-haired teen questioned.

"Just sit there and be a good boy," the man said, gazing upon the healing wound on the boy's side.

With a devilish grin he smoothly passed the tip of a knife over the wound, causing warm ruby liquid to flow once more from the healing wound. Allen bit down on his lower lip at the sudden pain, but didn't want to let Tyki have the satisfaction to hear him scream. Tyki on the other hand seemed to be dissatisfied by this, but it was soon clear that he had thought of something else.

"I have something that'll do the trick, I'll have ya crying before long," the dark-haired pirate said, giving the boy's skin a few slashes to prove a point and the other cringed under the assault.

Allen gave a soft sigh when the man began to pace the room, ignoring his stinging cuts for the time being. The youth watched the pirates through semi-narrowed eyes, as the other was making strange gestures and his lips were moving fast but he couldn't catch what was being said.

_Sorcerers sure are weird people….but if Tyki said that he made Lavi who he was, does that mean that Lavi can use magic as well? _the orphan wondered.

Being too busy with his thoughts, he didn't notice the creatures sliding down from the chains that were holding his arms above his head. It wasn't until he felt something moving that he finally snapped out of it. When Allen refocused on the present situation, the shock hit him quite hard and rendered him unable to move for a bit. Creatures that looked to be a cross between snakes and octopus tentacles were slithering down the chains holding his arms and ultimately starting to wrap around his arms. The youngster's gaze travelled over towards Tyki and found the man grinning with that creepy grin of his, which greatly unsettled him and set him on edge.

"W-What is this?" the young orphan questioned, trying to sound braver than he felt.

"A little treat," the dark-haired pirate replied.

_For who? _the pale-haired teen almost asked out loud, but he just couldn't bring himself to say those words for he feared what the answer would be.

The entire situation was a very mortifying experience and he didn't know what was going to happen to him, which made it even more horrifying like a nightmare. The strange looking tentacle-like creatures wrapped themselves around his torso and both of his legs as well as removing what was left of the coat from his body, he squeaked when they tried to pry his legs apart. His tail however blocked his nether regions from prying eyes, phrase 'tail between the legs' coming to mind.

"Now, now ya should be a good boy. Ya ain't gonna win no matter what you do." Tyki said as he walked around the table, admiring the scene before him.

The pale-haired teen didn't really have a chance to say anything else after that comment, since the creatures wrapped around his body were emitting a strange clear substance all over his naked body.

"W-What are these things?" Allen asked with a bit of disgust in his voice.

"Creatures designed for such torture tactics," the man replied smoothly, still walking circles around the table.

More of these strange tentacle-like creatures were coming out of nowhere, wrapping themselves around his frail form and forcing his legs into their final position. Moving his fluffy tail away from its protective position so he was completely exposed to his maniacal captor. The psychotic pirate seemed to be enjoying humiliating the young orphan; the pleasure was clear as day on his handsome face. The orphan's body was growing hot and uncomfortable as the creatures spread their odd substance all over him. His cheeks grew hot and a reddish tinge colored the pale flesh, heart speeding up a bit. He tried to fight off this terrible nightmare but found it to be useless, his body felt too sluggish and the creatures had an iron hold on him. He had no other choice but to submit and let the nightmare play out on its own, he had no hope to escape or to be saved before anything worse happened.

Two of the tentacle-like creatures started to prod and play with his nipples with their tips and his body reacted to it, mostly due to the effect of the substance on his body. The young teen squirmed and shook his head slightly as he bit his lower lip, chest heaving in a last effort to fight against this abuse. Tyki quickly became annoyed at the other's lack of submission, but he wasn't too upset over it since it seemed that it was quickly about to change.

"Seems like ya still have a bit of fight left in ya. Don't worry though, by the time am through with ya, there will be none of that," the man cackled.

Allen said nothing but continued to bite his lower lip to keep quiet until his teeth broke the skin and blood started flowing out. He continued to fight against it, however it was already a losing battle and in his current state there was no possible way that he could win. One of the creatures found its way to his nether region and slowly wrapped around his member, causing him to gasp and his back to arch.

"Ah…N-No….Stop it." Allen whined, hating himself for how weak he sounded.

The orphan strained weakly against the bonds that held him and the creatures that had him trapped, but it was all to no avail. Tyki grabbed the youth's face and turned it towards him, the teen looked at his captor through tear-filled eyes. His body occasionally twitched as the tentacle-like creatures moved against his body and his lower regions.

"Nngh…."Allen whined, trying to look away from the other's piercing amber eyes.

"Yer only getting what ya deserve," the pirate said cruelly.

Tears stung at his eyes and blurred his vision but they did not fall, instead he chose to weakly continue struggling against his bond even though there was no hope for escape. Tyki grabbed the boy's face with both of his hands, keeping the youngster's gaze on him. A creepy grin spreading over his lips and the pale-haired youth felt extremely unsettled. A piercing pain wracked his body as one of the creatures entered him, causing the youth to shut his eyes tightly and release a scream.

"N-No…please stop it…stop...please…nngh," the orphan pleaded, sounding quite pitiful, tears of pain falling from his eyes as he opened them again.

"It's only what ya deserve ya filthy mutt." Tyki said lowly as he ran a hand over the boy's sweat covered face.

Allen looked as if he was about to say something, but before he could a second of the tentacle-like creatures slammed inside him, joining its sibling in moving violently inside the teen's body. The orphan's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as a violent scream erupted from his throat, spasms and twitches wracking his frail and sweat covered body. The dark-haired pirate pressed the teen's face into his chest, screams muffled by the clothing and an expression of pure ecstasy spread over the man's face. As soon as the violation of his body began it seemed to come to a rather painful and humiliating end and the creatures retreated out of his body and away from his lower regions, lying idly around his upper torso as if awaiting orders. The young orphan was left to catch his breath, face still pressed against Tyki's chest. The moment of peace lasted for only a few seconds, before Allen found himself being flung around the room and thrown against the walls and floor like a ragdoll.

When this new form of abuse was finally over the pale-haired teen was barely able to move from where he landed on the floor. He was battered, bruised and covered in blood and other fluids; it was a heartbreaking and pitiful sight to behold… that is to anyone who wasn't a cold blooded monster like Tyki. The dark-haired pirate came to kneel next to him with a very pleased expression on his face.

"Where's yer savior now, boy? I bet he already forgot about ya," Tyki said with a cruel laugh as he picked the youth up.

Allen found himself being locked up in a cage, which he now noticed was in the back corner of the room. As it had been covered in a brown blanket he had thought it was just a covered crate. The cruel man left after locking up the naked and battered orphan in the cage like an animal. Out of mixed emotions the orphan suddenly changed into a wolf, hiding the shameful condition that his human body was in. He also found it ironic that he was a wolf in a cage, not much different than it was back during his experiments. The white wolf curled into an awkwardly fluffy ball in the farthest corner of the cage, wallowing in his misery as he waited for someone to come save him from the tortured state he had been placed in.

o~x~x~x~x~o

**A/N: **And there you have it, I hope y'all aren't mad at me for making you wait so long. Also I hope this chapter was to your fancy. It sure did amuse me…loads.

No flames please, I know there's probably some people that wanted me to do this. Also I decided to add lemons into this story; I thought it'd be a fun challenge to do.

Review mine lovelies, they make my day~


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